Collection of One-shots
by MsDiana
Summary: Each chapter will be a different one-shot. This used to be titled Meeting, as that is the name of the 1st one-shot in the series, but I decided to keep all my one-shots together. Please read the description at the top of each chapter in case it is something you don't want to read. Most will be smut/rom but I have written some that are angst-y and might not leave you as satisfied.
1. Meeting

Meeting

Luke & Penelope connect after the meeting where Spencer is asking Emily to fight & the team discusses what to do about Barnes. I decided this is what Luke & Penelope did after that. It's smutty. Long one-shot. I wrote this before that episode aired and I thought they could be at Penelope's house so, hey, this is what I wanted to happen.

* * *

Linda Barnes was scum. That's all Penelope was thinking at the moment. How could anyone want to force Emily out? Why did they want to break up the team? They were efficient. Wasn't that ultimately what made their department, their unit, the entire FBI, look good? They might not always be above board, but sometimes they needed to do what they needed to do to get things done.

If Linda Barnes understood, then maybe… Well, no. It wasn't that she didn't understand it. It was that she didn't care. It didn't help her climb the ladder, and she only cared about what helped her.

Penelope was waiting for the team. They wanted to get together to talk outside of the office, where ears weren't following them. She was shuffling around her kitchen. She was anxiously organizing her silverware drawer, without reason. She was reaching to check her phone when it buzzed. She smiled a ridiculous smile and sent a reply. She sighed and then took a drink from her water bottle.

She jumped when there was a knock on the front door. A few drops of the water ran down her chin. She rolled her eyes. She _was_ expecting people, wasn't she?

She wiped at her chin and ambled towards the door. When she opened it, she saw Luke standing there with his head was down, and he had a hand leaning against the door. She mentally groaned. He did that sometimes. That was exactly what he did on the morning of the day he finally decided to join the BAU, officially. She cringed, remembering her ridiculous, embarrassing slip of the tongue.

"You're early," she said dryly.

"Nice to see you too." He walked in and threw his jacket on a nearby hook.

"It's not cold out." She shut the door behind him.

"Not really, but it's not t-shirt weather either." He spun around to her. "Did you light candles? It smells like sandalwood in here."

She closed one eye in annoyance. "Well, I do like candles, but, yes, I did want it to smell nice and not like cleaning products. I just wiped everything down while I nervously waited for you."

"Aww! You were waiting for me?" He tilted his head, a goofy grin on his face and a gleam in his eye.

She huffed. "See. This is why I'm still mean to you."

"What did I do?" he asked innocently.

She stomped past him to her water and took another sip. He was staring at her. Once again, a few droplets slipped from her mouth, but this time they landed on her chest. She exasperatedly sighed. "Why are you staring at me? You're throwing off my coordination."

He curled his fingers, making a fist, "This is my fault?" He shook his head and leaned over the counter. He tipped his head towards her. "You've got some running down your-" He nodded towards her chest.

Her eyes widened in anger. She brought her hands up to wipe at her chest. "Yeah, great. Thanks, Alvez."

"Should I have let you - nevermind." He rolled his eyes.

She took a deep breath. "I'm going to freshen up my lipstick since it's on my water bottle now, thanks to you."

"How could that possibly be my fault?" he said in anger.

"How could it not?" She stomped away towards the bathroom.

He watched her disappear through the door and let his eyes fall to the counter in annoyance. He felt her phone vibrate on the counter. His eyes briefly wandered to it, but he quickly averted them. He scratched the back of his head, still trying to calm himself. She just always had to piss him off, didn't she? He felt the vibration again and again and then a third time, in quick succession. He looked down to the phone and saw a few kiss emojis, and, after another vibration, he saw the last message, 'Let me know when you're done with work, beautiful, and I can come get you.'

Luke's eyes darkened. He hit the side button. He saw a name. Whoever sent this had stupid initials, B.A.M. He shook his head. How dumb!

He heard the bathroom door opening. He quickly moved his hand and casually leaned against the counter just as he had before she walked away.

"Feel better?" He was staring at her lips, which were freshly lined in a pink hue.

She walked past him, then jumped onto the counter, letting her legs swing in front of her. "Are you ever not annoying?"

"Rarely," he answered dryly.

She had to stifle a grin. Sometimes he was funny, but she didn't want him to know that. "So why are you here early? Ran out of friends?"

He shook his head. "I thought I'd keep my night open since we're all here to discuss something important. Work has to come first, or the team does." He watched her shrug her reluctant agreement. He smirked. "What about you? Don't have to dart off somewhere, do you? Cut the family bonding time short?"

She narrowed her eyes at him. "No, I have no where better to be right now. Of course, if we do get done early, I have several invitations. Not that Roxy isn't fun, but mine are from people." She smiled smugly.

His nostrils flared. He wasn't pissed at the insult. He was pissed at the insinuation that she had multiple date offers. "Right. Well, I can wait in the hallway if you need to arrange something."

She let her ear drop to her shoulder. "Aww. Are you jealous that I have a better social life than you?" She pouted her lips.

His eyes were trained on her perfectly pink bottom lip as it jutted out. "Not at all. I'm aware most people have a better social life than me," he said nonchalantly. "I don't need other people to make myself feel better."

She let out a disbelieving laugh. "Really? Does your girlfriend know you feel that way?"

Luke narrowed his eyes at her bitter tone. He saw her rein her emotion in and clear her throat.

"What does that mean?" He found himself standing up and looking at her discerningly. He saw the panic rise on her face, and she was about to stutter when there was a knock at the door. He saw her eyes flash in relief, and she hastily jumped off the counter.

He let his eyes wander to the ceiling as he tried to dissect her tone. She was what, annoyed, that he was dating? Could've fooled him. She rarely even gave him a hard time lately. Well, she did, and she didn't. She wouldn't go out of her way anymore. In the beginning, she was closed off and distant, but then she briefly warmed up to him. Then all of a sudden he got attitude again, even worse than before it seemed.

He grabbed a water from her fridge. Might as well bother her some more by making himself at home.

"Baby Dolls!" Penelope said exuberantly as she greeted Tara and JJ.

They both gave her hugs, and then they saw Luke appear from her kitchen. They turned to give each other a pointed glance before greeting him as well.

"I know we're early, but I'm anxious. I genuinely don't know-" JJ shook herself and then took a seat in one of the white chairs. Tara sat next to her on the couch and briefly patted her hand, comfortingly.

Penelope eyes turned sad again. Luke saw the worry in her face and forgot momentarily that he was so annoyed with her. He took another sip of his water, as he observed her observing the other two. He recapped his water bottle and set it on the counter. Then he joined them, sitting behind them as he let them chat.

There was another knock, and the others filed in, taking seats. Matt greeted Luke before sitting on the couch in front of him.

Penelope mirrored Luke's position on the other side of the sofa as she awaited the emotional upheaval that was sure to come. She let her eyes wander to Luke, which was a mistake because he was looking directly at her. She didn't have the energy to be closed off. She let one side of her mouth turn down in sadness. She saw him notice her mood change and blink at her. She knew that was his way of supporting her in that moment.

The others' attention was on Emily at the head of the room. Emily told them that she had no idea how to get past this, how to fix it. She thought that if she left, maybe they would all be safe. Barnes might lay off of the team if she thought she won, if they just gave her a small victory. No one wanted that. They wanted the team together, this team, the one they created right here.

Spencer began pleading with her, telling her that she needs to fight, she needs to lead. They not only respected her as a friend but also as a leader, and they wanted to follow her. This team had taken hits over the years. People came and went, but all were remembered fondly, and the family never became frayed. It only ever expanded to fit others in.

Emily didn't know what to say or do. They discussed it, and agreed that none of them would stray in loyalty, because that's not who they want to be. They discussed how to fight it, but they also knew they didn't have any of the answers. Not now, not yet. All they knew was they had each other.

They hugged goodbye, even though the majority of them had just seen each other earlier, and they would see each other again soon. But Penelope gave Emily the longest hug since she wouldn't be at the office in the same way, at least not yet.

Penelope shut the door and put her forehead against the cool flat wall. She waited a few beats, not realizing that she was trying to catch her breath. This was not what she thought this would look like. She never realized just how much this team, this job, had become her entire life. She might have other friends, a cat, she might even date sometimes, but she was dedicated to her job. She liked the people. She had put so much time and energy into being good at it. She had let it define her, and she let it give her strength and confidence. It was the place that gave her the best friends in the world. She couldn't handle it if it ended like this.

She pushed off the door and took a deep breath. The distant buzz of her phone, reminded her she was supposed to be trying to be social again. She was trying to make a life outside of work, not because she was preparing for it to end, but because she was ready to find something else meaningful to hold onto.

She took a few steps towards the buzzing in her kitchen, only to stop dead in her tracks when there was a tap on the front door. She took quick strides back and opened it without looking.

Her eyes turned in question when she saw Luke. "Did you need something?" She was too emotionally drained for the question to have any venom behind it.

He cleared his throat. "I forgot my jacket and my water."

She stepped back and gestured for him to come in. He moved past her and turned to look at her. She was standing in the open doorway with one hand on the doorknob, waiting for him to gather his things and leave. He rolled his eyes. "I also wanted to check on you."

She let her eyelids fall and then slowly shut the door, before peering back up at him. "Why? I'm fine."

"You didn't seem fine. You don't have to be fine," he amended.

"Well, I am." She settled onto one hip and crossed her arms over her chest. "Why do you think I'm so fragile?" She tried to sound annoyed, but she knew her tone portrayed her genuine curiosity.

Luke shrugged. "I didn't say that. But if you are, that's okay. Honestly, I just thought-"

"Oh you've been thinking? Does it hurt after awhile?" The sarcasm came oozing out of her. Something felt distinctly too vulnerable, and she started putting her wall back up.

She saw Luke's shoulders drop and his jaw tense. "Fine, Garcia. I don't know what I was thinking." He whirled around to grab his water from the counter behind him and then stalked towards the door where he left his jacket.

Penelope felt the regret instantly. He was trying to reach out, He'd done it before. In fact, he'd done that multiple times. Sometimes she'd let him, or at least she wouldn't fight him. Sometimes she'd fight a little, but it was pathetically meager. She quickly stepped in between him and his intended route. "I'm sorry. I didn't - I don't mean to do that, the thing where I act like that. You just bring it out in me, but it's still my choice to act that way." She lowered her head in apology and peered at him over her glasses.

Luke immediately gave in. His anger toward her only ever lasted a few minutes. "I'm sorry, too. I never meant to push you, if that's what I'm doing. I just worry about you. Although I'm not always sure why." He felt his mind trying to sort it out. He noticed moments later, that she was hiding a small smile.

He smiled as well and shook his head at himself. He did know why he acted like this, but he always suppressed it because it would never matter. She made her mind up about him a long time ago, before he ever had a shot. He'd still protect her. He'd still take the friendship she offered occasionally, on the good days. But he still had to suppress any feelings that would pop up. "Do you - Will you talk about it?" he asked softly.

Penelope lifted her head to peek at him. "I guess so, if you want."

"I want." He moved to the couch, set his water on the table and settled back into the cushions.

She locked the door and then rounded the table to seat herself on the couch as well. She didn't sit as far from him as possible, but she didn't sit too close either.

Luke waited for her to speak, but instead she fidgeted and ran her fingers over her black tights. He cleared his throat, "We'll be fine. You've all been through worse. Bureaucracy won't be what brings this team down."

She shrugged. "Isn't that exactly what will? We don't need a big bad serial killer after us when there's hoops to jump through."

He sat forward and examined the wall opposite him. "I know it's not going to be simple, but, if we all need to walk, we will, and, if we all need to move on, then we will. We might not get to stay together, but I'd rather be apart in different jobs than right next to all of you without actually being with you at all. I'm not scared, Penelope. This job might be what gave us all to each other, sure, but it can't take us apart from one another. It just can't. We're stronger than that."

"I know we can hold on to each other if we just try, but you know I don't like change. This job, I've been at it nearly fifteen years, with a lot of the same people, and it's just so… It shouldn't have to end because of someone's ego." Penelope wasn't sad anymore. She was just frustrated.

Luke nodded and scooted closer to her, placing a hand on her shoulder opposite of him. "I agree. I won't let it."

She let out a small giggle. "Since when did you become so powerful?" She turned her head to look at him. Her body was still facing forward, and she had her hands on the edges of the couch on either side of her knees.

He chuckled. "Hey, I keep my promises. I told you I wouldn't let what you said to Reid become a lie, and I didn't let it. You should try believing in me sometimes." He ran his fingers down and let his nails gently rake across the middle of her back.

She felt a shiver coming on, but she quickly suppressed it by moving her hands up to her lap and straightening her back. She heard the consistent buzz of her phone. She had completely forgotten what she was going to do before being interrupted.

Luke followed her gaze toward the kitchen. "If you need to get that…" His palm was now flat against the expanse of her back.

Penelope took a deep breath. "No, it's not important." Her hands curled into one another on her lap. She might not want to be alone forever, but she wanted Luke's company more than one of the guys she had been texting. The dating app was proving to be quite fruitful, but it didn't matter which one of them was calling right now. Being here with Luke made her feel calm. It made her feel better. She might not tell him so, but she didn't want him to leave. She wasn't alone when he was here, in more ways than one.

He narrowed his eyes at her as she played with her fingers. He could've sworn he heard a hint of softness in her words that she rarely had with him. He definitely saw a little blush come to her cheeks. He wanted to lean in and kiss her, but he didn't want her to think that's why he was comforting her. She knew better than that. He'd comforted her often, and he never asked for, nor expected, anything from it. Here, right now, she was worried, but she wasn't distraught. She wasn't emotionally vulnerable. They talked it through and swore their allegiance to the team. They were okay, just apprehensive. There was a guy calling, but she would rather sit on the couch with him, than go find out if she had a date, or a booty call maybe. He wasn't sure what the relationship was.

He didn't realize that he'd been staring at her until he heard her clear her throat. She was shyly looking at him. Her head only partially facing him as she kept her body straight. "Do you need to talk about what's bothering you?" She asked quietly.

Luke's eyes softened, as he softly cleared his own throat. "No." He let out an inaudible chuckle. "Well, maybe." He shook his head and let his eyes roam around the room before landing back on her inquisitive face. He felt himself inspecting her, from chin to forehead. He didn't understand what made him so brave right now. He hadn't been for the past two years. There were small windows of opportunity here and there, but it never seemed like the time to take a chance. It never seemed like she truly wanted to reciprocate, and, if she had, he figured it would've been purely a physical, natural reaction, not an emotional one. But today, today felt different. "Come here." His hand travelled from the middle of her back to the small part of her waist. He let his fingers curl around it just under her breast as he pulled at her gently.

Penelope couldn't read his face. He was a great friend. He was always there for all of them when they needed a shoulder to cry on, especially her. She let the magnetic pull of his eyes guide her, and she pushed back into the cushion and closed the last few inches between their bodies.

Luke kept his hand at her waist and let her settle into his side. He felt her turn. Her side pressed into him, and she settled into the crook of his arm.

He stayed still, and so did she. He let himself get used to the feel of her next to him. He was enjoying it just as much as he thought he would.

Her cheek was close to his shoulder, but she didn't let it fall there. She kept her head upright, still adjusting to his masculine scent that was apparently trying its damndest to drive her wild.

Penelope decided that, if he was going to comfort her how he always did, she should at least be comfortable. She toed off her heels and then leaned forward momentarily to push them further away on the floor, before settling back into his embrace.

He smirked. He never saw her without shoes on. There were one or two incidents where she had on fashionable sneakers, but that was about it. "Penelope," he said quietly, trying to get her full attention.

She tipped her head up to look at him but didn't expect to see him so close, studying her face, letting his eyes roam over her. His gaze dropped to her lips, and she felt as if she was going to hyperventilate.

He saw her pulse pick up. She knew what he was doing. He leaned into her. She didn't move away, but she didn't meet him either. Her eyelids were heavy, and they both knew she wanted to, but she couldn't, not until she asked, "Don't you have a girlfriend?" Her voice was so meek. She was almost scared that he didn't hear her, but she felt him tense.

He didn't pull away, not even a centimeter. His eyes were still glued to her face, intimately examining it. "No, Penelope. I really don't."

He saw her let out the breath she had been holding. She glanced at his lips before closing her eyes and letting her mouth connect with his. Both of them moaned at the same time. Something about it was therapeutic. They had both wanted to know what this felt like, and now they knew.

Every once in awhile when they both flirted, she thought that he might have thought about it, but, hell, over the years she wondered what almost everybody kissed like, simply out of curiosity. She kissed Emily on a night out just for the hell of it. But Luke, Luke was different. She always wanted to know if his perfectly-made pink lips tasted as good as they looked.

She was aware she was kissing Luke Alvez, very aware that they were both completely sober, very aware that they were alone, and fully aware that he initiated this, and that she reciprocated.

Luke was entranced. He didn't think it would be this simple. He thought she'd question him, she'd tell him he was nuts, or possibly kick him out, but he didn't think she'd give in and truly admit, even in action, that she wanted to do this too.

He pulled her body closer, and she obliged by turning further into him, so that their chests were touching. Neither of them was overly cautious. They knew what was happening, but neither of them escalated too quickly. They didn't want to be swept into a moment that they could later deny meant something.

Slowly, they pressed further and let their hands wander. Hers came to rest on his chest while one of his travelled to the back of her head. He kept his other right where it had started. He loved the feel of her waist underneath his hand, his fingers barely brushing the underside of her breast through the thick fabric of her dress.

She was trying to figure out what in their night led to this, but she knew damn well it had nothing to do with tonight per se. This was inevitable, since the first time she laid eyes on him.

Luke felt one of her hands run down his stomach and back up his chest. Then he felt both of her arms wind around his neck, making him feel closer to her, whether they actually were or not.

Luke had no intention of letting this stop here. He'd go as far as she'd allow herself to go because this wasn't something he decided to do in the moment. This was something he'd thought about and was perfectly willing to let happen now. Possibly the exact way it was always supposed to happen, he could feel the palpable tension and the deeper emotion and connection that had built over time. He was perfectly content with what was occurring, and it felt like she was too.

He let the hand that was on her waist move across her back and travel to the front of her waist on the other side. Slowly his fingers moved up to ghost over the underside of her other breast. When he felt her take a breath but never move her lips, he lost any semblance of moving tentatively. He let his full palm move up to cup her and gently massage it with his hand.

They both moaned into their kiss. She wanted him, and it was clear he wanted her. She didn't realize quite how mutual this attraction and pull toward each other had been until now. There was no point in taking this slow. They'd been walking around it for a long time. She just didn't always know that's what they were doing. She brought one hand to travel down his stomach to the top of his zipper. She felt the bulge that she'd hoped would be there already, and she could feel him take a breath as they continued to kiss.

Her palm ran over him. She felt her excitement build. She was either going to have to ask him to follow through or stop. There wasn't much of an in-between that she thought she could handle. Then again, if he stopped, she'd probably backtrack and agree to makeout until the cows came home because it was better than stopping. Oh so much better than stopping.

She didn't have to wait long for an answer. She felt him push her hair out of the way and slowly pull the zipper down in the middle of her back. She felt her hand press more firmly into his groin, her restraint wanting to take a hiatus.

Luke unzipped it to her tailbone where it stopped and touched the skin at the small of her back. She felt hot and cold at the same time. He loved the feel of her skin pressed into his palm.

Penelope unbuttoned his pants and then pulled the zipper down. Her hand travelled inside to feel his erection through the thinner cloth of his underwear.

It was clear that both of them had the same intention, clear that neither of them thought the possible consequences of these actions weren't worth the risk. They knew it was.

They pulled away for the first time since their kiss began. Both of them had lust filled eyes, but they weren't so glazed over that they weren't present enough to know exactly what was happening and exactly why they both were willing participants. They silently understood the other's wishes.

Penelope stood up and held her hand out to him. He grasped it and followed her silently to her bedroom. She turned to face him as she stood at the foot of her bed. He could see her faintly in the light streaming in from the hallway. They finally let their kisses become a little more heated, but neither of them became frantic. They'd admitted to themselves and each other that they had every intention of enjoying this as much as possible. They might not know what happened afterwards, but they knew what was happening now, and they were going to be fully present for the entirety of it. He bent down and brought his palms under her thighs to lift her the few inches off the floor onto the bed. He pulled her legs apart and followed her as she leaned backwards.

Luke reached to both her shoulders and pulled the dress down her arms, Penelope lifted her hips so that he could take it off her body. Luke drank in her lace black bra and the thigh highs she was wearing, not full tights after all. He groaned at her, the stockings made him feel like they were doing something more deviant than if she was just naked.

She reached forward and undid a few of the buttons on his shirt so it was loose enough to push up. He helped her move the shirt over his head. She let her hands run under the undershirt he had on as she slowly pushed it up his chest, and he divested himself of that too.

Penelope examined his toned stomach and chest and the natural tan of his skin, and she placed a few kisses across his abs. She laid back. He knew she was trying to show that she was vulnerable, that she wasn't trying to hide that this attraction was very mutual. Luke pushed off the bed, kicked off his shoes and socks, and then pushed down his pants and took them off. He mounted the bed again and grabbed her inner thighs, pushing them apart to give him more space to settle in between them.

She was looking up at him. They were both turned on and lust filled, but they were planning on taking their time. "Do we need…?" he asked, as he stared down at her.

She shook her head. "Up to you. I'm not on birth control, but I've also been told I have an extremely low chance of ever conceiving." She shrugged. "But there are condoms in the nightstand." According to her doctor, it was all but zero chance, but you can never fully rule it out.

Luke studied her face, finding that she had no sadness about it and also that she was entirely truthful about not caring if they used anything. She wasn't saying it to please him.

He nodded at her and reached down to the strings of her underwear. As she lifted her hips for him again, he pulled the minute fabric down her legs and threw them to the side.

He didn't try to hide the fact that he was looking at her. He didn't think there was a point in playing shy. He wasn't shy. This wasn't awkward. This wasn't odd or weird. This was just what was right.

Penelope didn't try to hide either. She didn't feel embarrassed. Most times it didn't happen like this. There was always adjustment. Normally she'd work up to this level of intimacy. Maybe it wouldn't ever get there if the fling ended too quickly, but this was Luke, and she was Penelope, and they were going to do this exactly how they wanted.

He leaned over her and reached behind her back. She lifted up to her elbows to allow him to unclasp the bra. She let her shoulders fall back to the bed as he pulled the straps down her arms revealing her chest to him.

She watched as he absentmindedly threw her bra aside. His eyes darkened. His chest moved up and down as he drank in the perfection. Her nipples were perfect, and the cleavage he'd examined countless times in the past two years didn't disappoint. The full roundness of her breasts was mesmerizing. He'd imagined they were perfect, just like this, and somehow they were still better. After he'd scanned them long enough to commit them to memory, his gaze traveled back to her face. She was waiting patiently, and he could tell she was enjoying watching him as he stared in wonder at her naked form, save for the thigh highs which he had no intention of removing.

She let her eyes drop to the band of his underwear and curled her fingers on either side, slowly pushing them down. She watched as his erection bobbed back up after the fabric moved past it to his thighs. Once she pushed it down to his knees, he lifted one knee at a time and threw them aside as well.

They stopped to examine each other. Then he saw her sit up. He watched as one of her hands found his hip and the other surrounded him. She leaned forward, and he watched as he disappeared into her mouth. He let out a strangled moan when he felt her tongue around him as her hand guided him in and out. Luke grabbed her hair and held it back as she continued to taste him.

He let go of her hair and gently pushed her back, so he could kiss her breasts, moving between both of them, before finally taking a nipple into his mouth and moaning against her skin when he heard her gasp and grab his hair. He moved to the other nipple, teasing it the same way, making it harden and then blowing on it. He started trailing kisses down her stomach to her sex. His tongue ran over the sensitive spot at the top and placing kisses across her folds, before dipping his tongue into her. He felt her squirming, and he couldn't decide if he should make her come or if he wanted to be inside of her when she came for the first time. He kissed up and down her slit and then slowly slid his fingers inside of her, feeling the wetness immediately envelope his fingers. He moved in and out deliberately, as he let his lips linger on her. He could feel her shake. He wanted to taste her as she came. He wanted to feel her pulse around his fingers, but something told him he should do that later. Right now, he wanted to be inside of her. He wanted to experience this with her. She gave a small whine when he stopped.

He crawled up her body and looked into her partially glazed eyes, but she was still able to focus on him. "That's right. Look at me, P. Don't let go," he told her.

Penelope nodded, as his hand reached down between them so he could guide himself into her. She felt the tip of him at her entrance, and she held her breath, waiting for him. She tried to focus on both of his eyes at the same time. She could feel her eyes darting back and forth. He seemed calmer than her, but she just wanted to see everything all at once. His face was serious and yet full of emotion. He slowly pushed into her, both of them holding their breath as they felt him sink in deeper until he was fully seated. She felt her chest moving up and down as she tried to get used to the pleasurable stretch he'd given her. "Luke, are we really doing this?" She didn't know why she was asking, didn't realize the words were coming out of her mouth, but the slow and deliberate choices were making it impossible to deny their intent.

"Yes, we are," he said sincerely. He started to pulse slowly. "Finally."

He leaned down to kiss her, which she returned, but, when he pulled away, she asked, "Finally?"

"Yes, I wanted this before tonight, Penelope. Please tell me you did too." He continued to move slowly into her.

She nodded. "We both know I did."

They kept eye contact, and he felt her wrap a leg around the back of his thigh. She pulsed upward a few times, exploring the sensation of the changing angles. But she wanted him to do this. She was willing to get creative later on, but, right now, she wanted exactly what he was giving to her. This was all they needed. There were a thousand ways their lives were complicated, but joining together in this simple way felt so much deeper than any unbridled passion.

He knew what she wanted, and he wanted the same thing. He wanted the control. He wanted the straight-forwardness of their actions. He might have fantasized about doing a million different dirty things to her, and he hoped like hell he'd have the chance to get to those, but right now he wanted this just like it was.

He leaned down and kissed and sucked both of her nipples again before returning his gaze to her face. "I want to come inside you. That's okay, right?" he questioned softly.

"Yes," she said breathlessly. His words were enough to make her feel overwhelmed. That's when she realized that he always had her hooked mentally. She might crave his body in a real animalistic sort of way. She would be a fool not to. He was breathtaking with his clothes on, and now she knew what he looked like with his clothes off, but what she really wanted was for him to keep her spellbound this way. With his words, with his needs, with his desires, it would always be there to turn her mind on. She bit her lip as she watched his face fall into a deeper passion when she agreed to what he wanted. But she wanted that too. She wanted to feel him lose himself inside of her in more ways than one.

The sensation was building, circling around her core. He must've sensed it or read her mind because he quickened his pace and glued his eyes to her as she clenched. She almost felt sensationless for a second and a half before she felt it climb over her and flush down her body. She screamed his name as she threw her head back.

Luke paid rapt attention as she gasped his name out. He angled upwards and slammed into her harder as she began to recover. He wasn't going to hold out, not this time, not the first time, not when he could come inside of her as she was recovering from coming herself. As the orgasm took over his body, he let out a low growl and said her name. He let his motions die out, and then he fell close to her body, gluing their torsos together as he kissed her.

Penelope used her leg to hook behind his again, keeping him inside of her despite the fact that it didn't seem like he was going anywhere. She felt like she was trying to devour his lips, but it seemed like he was returning the favor.

Luke used one hand to steady himself on the bed and brought the other between them to play with her breast. He felt her moan as he teasingly ran his finger over her nipple. Penelope wound her arms behind his neck and tangled her fingers in his hair at the back of his head.

When they resumed eye contact, neither of them shied away from the intensity of the emotion that was there. "We just did that," she informed him with a hint of disbelief.

He smiled. "That we did."

"Are we going to do it again?"

"I'd like it very much if we did."

She shrugged. "Yeah me too."

Luke flipped them over so that she was now straddling him. "This is not how I thought the meeting would end," he said, as he reached up to palm both of her breasts and squeeze them together as he explored them.

"Neither did I. I'm supposed to be on a date right now," she confessed, as she leaned forward to give his mouth better access to her chest. He happily obliged and kissed her breasts as he continued to massage them with his hands.

After a few more licks, he pulled back. "It's a good thing I chose tonight to be brave then, isn't it?" His mouth latched back onto her chest.

She let her eyes close in bliss as she took a sharp breath. "Why have we not done this before?"

He chuckled. "Honestly, at the moment, I can't think of a good reason, but, logically, I know it's because I wasn't sure you wouldn't try to punch me if I tried."

She let out a giggle. "Hmm, maybe. Although I might have hit you, and then kissed you back… It's anyone's guess."

He nodded at her. Her face was inches from his as she leaned over him. "What do you want to do now, Penelope?"

"You mean, I'm not going to ride you? Because I definitely thought that's what you were going for here." She smiled coyly, but she knew that's not what he meant.

He grinned and shook his head. "Well, yes, but we both know that's not what I'm asking."

"I'm not really sure what you want me to say. I didn't sit down and have a discussion with myself before we - well..." She gestured between the two of them.

"Yeah, but we can't take it back even if we wanted to, and I don't want to." He gazed into her eyes. He let his hands fall and then brought them around, placing them on the small of her back.

"I don't want to either. I don't know exactly what you're asking or how to answer," she said sincerely. Were they supposed to start a relationship just because they slept with each other? On the other hand, were they supposed to ignore it altogether?

"Penelope, I know what's happening is not nothing. I don't want this to be the last time we do this, and I also don't want to just be sleeping together. So what do you think?"

"We can't have something physical, and it not mean anything, and I also want to do this again, in many different ways." She giggled, earning a chuckle from him. "But, are you, like, asking to date?"

"Is that what it's called? That's why I'm asking. Is dating, me picking you up every Friday for a movie or is it..." He let his eyes fall to her chest as he contemplated, but he looked back at her when he cut himself off from uttering the wrong words.

"We haven't even thought about this. Well, it's not that I've never thought about it. It's just that, well, I was supposed to be on a date right now and then tomorrow I was supposed to be on another date with someone else entirely. Also, I thought you had a girlfriend, so this is a change in events, to say the least."

"I had some dates, Penelope. That's not a girlfriend. But you don't owe me anything. I guess I don't owe you anything either." He shrugged.

"No, I guess not." Her palms came to rest on his stomach as she supported herself while she examined her fingers moving over his abs as she pondered. "But, if we didn't have any intention of follow-through, we probably shouldn't have done this at all." She sighed. "I'm not attached to dating a bunch of guys. I was just - I can't be the last single person on the team for all eternity. I assumed there was all the time in the world, but what if the team really does come to an end, Luke? What if we really are forced apart? We might all still love one another, but I've dedicated my life to this team, and I've put personal needs aside because they were never as important. If this team ends, I can't look up at my life and realize I wasn't living for anything else."

Luke nodded. "I understand that all too well. That's my life's story - job first, personal needs second. Like I said, I hope this isn't the end, but it doesn't change the fact that I'm not willing to only have the team to rely on either. I want more than that too."

"So you want…I'm not trying to be dense, but honestly, I'm too scared to assume something incredibly stupid."

He cleared his throat. "It's not as if we built up to this. We weren't on a date and then you invited me up afterwards. We meant what we did. It was a choice we made, not a mistake. We know each other already, Penelope. There aren't that many secrets between us. You're my friend, so I'm not in the dark about who you are. We can make this into something if that's what you think you could want."

"I disagree." She smirked, at the confusion in his face. "I think all we've ever done is build up to this." She giggled when he poked her sides. "We can make this into something, something we can have even if we don't save the team. We can do this, I'm sure of it, but we both have to want it, and I do." She uttered the last words shyly.

He sat up, making her slide further down his thighs. He grabbed her face and brought her lips to his and wound his arms around her back, holding her close. She put her arms around his neck, kissing him back thoroughly. "I'm pretty sure that this isn't what I intended, and yet it went better than I planned."

"You've been thinking about this?" she asked amazed.

"Not exactly yes, but not exactly no either. We are a pretty good match even when we both pretended like we weren't."

"I unfortunately think I know what you mean. So we're in a relationship?" she asked still unsure, but slightly braver.

He nodded. "I think that's what we're doing."

"We shouldn't take more time?"

He shrugged. "If you think we should, then fine, but, we're not strangers, we have an established relationship, and we're just changing what that looks like. Is that good?"

Penelope turned her bottom lip in momentarily. "I like it." She smiled.

"We're going to have to deal with breaking the rules, which granted, right now, is probably the least helpful thing we can do for the team, but it also means that, if this is the end for us, this isn't the end for _us_."

She nodded. "So even if you suddenly end up in fugitive recovery, and I end up as a super secret consultant for some huge tech company, and we're not conveniently near each other all the time, we're still doing this?"

"That's what it means."

"What about the team? Do we burden them more with this secret?"

"Barnes is already after the team. Would she use this against us if she knew? Yes. But she's not looking for this. We don't have to tell them, but, hell, if you want to hire a skywriter, that's fine with me. They won't take issue. It might even be the only positive thing we take away from this in a few weeks."

She nodded. "We'll be professional at work, but I'm fine with them knowing as well. These past few weeks have taught me that there's no reason to hold back for the sake of pleasing others. If people want to take you down, they will try no matter what you do." She watched her perfectly painted fingernails run over his chest before speaking again, "We are supposed to see all of them tomorrow. What do we do?"

"I'd like to tell them."

She smiled. "I'd like that too. What are we going to say when they ask how and when? 'Oh, last night we decided to have sex and jump in a relationship?'"

He chuckled. "I don't want to see their reactions to that." He reached up, taking a curl in his fingers and then trailing his hand down her back. "Maybe we just tell them that we've had a close friendship, and we both decided to figure out if we could have more. It's the truth, even if it lacks detail."

She contemplated his suggestion, "That works."

He nodded at her and ran his forehead over the swell of her breasts as she grasped the locks of hair at the back of his neck. "Okay then. I guess we can get back to the fun now."

"Well, you are still inside of me." He growled at her comment. "No worries it's my new favorite way to have a conversation." She giggled.

"Yeah me too. You know if we ever disagree, we could just make a rule that says we have to argue while in this position. I have a feeling we could easily come to some sort of compromise," he joked.

"I'll take it into consideration." She nodded and then leaned in to kiss him again. "I'm in a little bit of shock. Two hours ago, you were annoying me as you followed me around my kitchen."

He laughed. "True, but I think this was inevitable, well, inevitable as long as I didn't try to deny it forever."

"Yeah me too. What changed though?"

"Honestly?" He paused and waited for her nod. "I want what you do. Matt, JJ, they're going home tonight to their spouses. They get to talk it out with someone that loves them. This team might mean everything to them, but it won't take away everything they've got either. I want that."

"But why me?"

He smirked. "Who else?"

She laughed. "Okay, fair. I am quite a catch."

"Since we're going for honesty here, I did see some of the messages on your phone earlier." He watched her narrow her eyes at him. "I didn't purposely snoop, but I wondered why I cared so much about you going out. Thinking about you, maybe liking you, it always seemed like there was time, and now it felt like I was running out of time in more ways than one. I didn't think it would be smart to let something slip through my fingers without ever really trying to hold onto it in the first place."

She tilted her head to the side. "Is this a, you only want what you can't have, scenario?"

He shook his head, "I'm not like that. I think I just needed something to open my eyes to the fact that this is not a feeling that was going away."

She nodded. "Okay, one more question then." He groaned and pulsed his hips up, indicating that he was hard again and had been for a fair amount of this conversation. "Yeah, I know, but, deal with it. There's a reason I thought you had a girlfriend, so again I ask, why me?"

His eyes softened. "There are some nice people out there to date. I had a good time going out, but you meant something to me a long time ago, and that feeling wasn't going to go away. If I'd wanted someone else, I wouldn't have still wanted you."

She simpered and began moving her hips, eliciting a hiss from him. "So what you're saying is that we probably could've been doing this a lot sooner if we both weren't morons?" Her voice was slightly breathless as she found a rhythm.

He let his fingernails dig into her hips on either side, "Probably, but then again, doing this the easy way doesn't sound like us. Besides, I think it's a good thing it took a little longer. We are both so aware of the other. We know what we're getting into, and we both want it." He gritted out the last part as he felt her clench her inner muscles. "Holy fuck."

"Uh, yeah." She muttered breathlessly. "Lean against the -" She was cut off when he moved both of their bodies. His back was now flat against the headboard. She grabbed the top of the wooden frame in both hands and started slamming down harder onto him.

He watched as her breasts bounced in front of his face, and he moved one hand up from her hip to grip one and bring it to his mouth. She moaned. This was the best decision she had made in a long time. This was going to be the best thing that ever happened to them both.

She kept up the rhythm as she let one hand fall to hold him against her breast as he sucked. She felt the orgasm building. She kept moving as the feeling overwhelmed her. She could hear herself moan, and she felt him growl around her breast as she climaxed.

Luke watched as she was coming down. She was still moving, but not with as much force. He threw her backwards, finally sliding out of her for the first time since they'd joined. He immediately felt the loss of warmth. She was still bleary eyed and trying to recover. He easily turned her onto her stomach, positioning himself behind her. He slid into her and took in the view of the stockings still on her thighs as he pounded into her. He felt her tense up and saw her gripping the sheet in one hand. "Are you okay?" he asked without stopping.

"God, yes," she answered, making him let out a satisfied scoff.

Luke moved forward to angle his body to hit the spot he knew was there, and he firmly held her legs apart as he pulsed into her. He saw her drop her forehead into the sheet, and he knew she was close to coming again. He brought both hands up to her ass and gripped it in his hands, leaving red marks with his fingernails and getting a moan from her. "You like that," he said and watched her nod into the sheet, even though it wasn't a question. He brought his hand down to smack her ass, and he felt her get a little more wet from his actions. He smirked as he watched her ass move with his palm print on it.

He did it a few more times and then gripped her thighs as she started moaning his name loudly. "Luke, oh my God, yes."

He pounded into her as hard as he could as he filled her all over again. He stayed seated in her for a few moments as he caught his breath. He finally looked up to her and saw that her eyes were closed, and she was motionless. He didn't want to move out of her, but he was going to need some water and some recovery time if they planned on doing this some more tonight.

He saw his spendings drip down her thighs to the band of her thigh highs, and he groaned. He would never be with someone for the first time without a condom, but he planned on being with Penelope as much as he could for as long as he could, probably forever, because even if things got a little boring or a little mundane, even if they fought like cats and dogs and wanted to maim each other, he couldn't think of anyone else that he would rather go through hell with.

When he slowly eased out of her, she wanted to whine, but she couldn't muster the energy. She laid still, and she could feel him crawl up next to her and plant his body against hers. She felt his hand brush a lock of hair out of her face. She partially opened her eyes and saw him examining her with a soft look on his face. "I think you might destroy me," she informed him.

He chuckled. "No, but I can try."

She smiled and lifted her head to lay on her crossed forearms. "This is still a little bit hard for me to wrap my mind around. Just this evening I had no idea what you looked like naked, and now I will never forget."

He laughed again. "Ditto. I'm not sorry about it." He ran his fingers gently across the expanse of her back.

She shut her eyes and gave an exhausted nod. "Me either."

"Are you tired?"

"Not exactly. I'm just satiated, and you'll have to give me a minute before I can walk again."

He grinned. "I can do that." He scooted closer to her and kissed her shoulder.

"You know, I didn't realize how much time we've spent together outside of work. Despite the fact that most of the time we were getting all snarky with each other, we did still seem to make the time to gravitate towards one another."

"That we did. Maybe we were subconsciously trying to figure this out." He shrugged. He contemplated the ups and downs many times, but he wasn't secretly pining. Laying here with her now, it felt natural. Something about the fact that the team might not be the team anymore, jolted him awake.

"Pretty hard to think we made this decision without our minds doing some of the work prior to this," she agreed.

"You know I didn't think I'd feel all that good about today, but somehow I'm quite happy, who knew?"

She laughed, "Me too. I feel oddly calm now."

"Well, you did just come three times so…"

She playfully slapped his chest. "I'm serious. I'm very serious actually. I think I'm okay," she said earnestly, as she drew circles with her fingernail across his chest.

"Me too. I'm not really scared of what tomorrow brings, not if I have this to look forward to." He reached down and grabbed her hand to bring to his lips and kiss her fingers. "I'm sorry that I don't have some emotional, romantic confession. This just seems so right and logical, and I don't know that there is more to it than that."

"There doesn't have to be. We've been hovering around this. It's probably a good thing that we didn't overthink it."

"So then just one more question, girlfriend."

"What's that, boyfriend?"

"Do I get to play with the lights on your monitor now?"

"I would rather marry you tomorrow in the dusty banquet room of a steakhouse wearing a pantsuit before I let you lay a finger on my new baby."

"That could be arranged."

* * *

Hope you enjoyed it. Thanks for all the reviews, favs, follows on anything I've done. I appreciate it.

Remember, this will now be a series of unrelated one-shots. Please read all summaries at the top of each 'chapter' to make sure you are interested in each one. Thank you!


	2. I Give Good Phone

I Give Good Phone

Smut! Total smut, not a real plot. Phone sex, if the title didn't give that away.

Those of you that follow me on Tumblr might've already read this, but, I promise another one-shot will be posted tomorrow! So check for another update then.

* * *

It was the second call in a row. Penelope groaned and reached over, answering her phone. "Yeah, what?"

He cringed at her curt tone. "Sorry. Am I interrupting something."

"Yes. No. Just some much needed alone time. What do you want?" He _was_ interrupting something - something incredibly important, something she'd been dying to do, something she needs to do and finally had the time and energy to take care of.

"Just wanted some help with… Nevermind, uh, I can just bring it in on Monday."

"You already called, Alvez. Why don't you just..." She let the vibrator in her hand fall next to her bare thigh. The lace panties and lacy tank top she had on left her skin exposed to the cool air in her apartment. She closed her eyes. He just had to call and make this hard. Or make this easier, if she was honest, but unfortunately, she feared the intense moaning she'd be doing would give her away. "Just tell me what you need."

"Remember, I told you I can't get my laptop and iPod to sync. When I went for my run this morning, honestly, I got sick of the same songs."

"Right. Yeah. Of course I'd be happy to help. Just maybe, later tonight, or possibly tomorrow?"

"Sure. Doesn't have to be right now if you're busy." It upset him that she was so angry. He thought she'd maybe be impassive.

Okay, she was getting off the phone. She was going to masturbate, at least twice, and then she could call him back later. Hell, maybe tomorrow. She might need the time. Hearing his voice, picturing him right now… Damn it! Why was Alvez so hot? How could someone so annoying be so beautiful? "Uh, what? Sorry. What did you…?" She felt the vibrations. Shit! When did she turn the damn thing on? She needed to get off the phone.

"I was just saying I can bring it over, just let me know when you're not busy." She was zoned out. He knew she wasn't paying attention. They had a long weekend, and he sort of felt alone, and Garcia always made him laugh, even if that wasn't her intention.

She cleared her throat awkwardly, "Yeah, sure. That, uh, that works. Yeah. No problem. Let me just call you back, mmmkay?" She heard her own voice. It was a little too breathless.

"Garcia, are you okay?" He was concerned. Her behavior was weird. Her voice was ragged. "What are you… What are you doing?"

"Alvez, I'm about to hang up on you. Can't you just understand? I. Will. Call. You. Later."

"Garcia, but, I'm just worried. You sound..." She sounded like she was out of breath, but it's not like she was out for a jog, herself. What the hell could have her out of- "Garcia, are you with somebody right now? Why would you answer the phone?" He was utterly disgusted that she would talk to him while she was with another man.

She growled. "No, Alvez, you ass. I'm not with anybody. I'm very much alone, except for your annoying self that won't take a hint. Now, can I call you back?" She turned off the vibrator and set it on the nightstand. She was going to need to reset her mind after this call. He might turn her on, but he also pissed her off. She was still touching herself though. She'd been so horny and had so little time.

She just took a relaxing bath, pulled her hair back into a chic ponytail and put on some clothes that made her feel sexy. She was getting this done. She ran her fingers over her clit and then dipped them into herself. She could feel how wet and ready she was. She almost forgot she wasn't really alone, until he spoke.

"Gar- Penelope, are you…?" He didn't want to assume. What if he was wrong? There was a part of him, the part that committed what her long legs looked like in short skirts to memory, the part that looked down her dress when she was bending over to dig in her desk drawer. That part of him really, really hoped she was doing exactly what he thought she was doing. "Are you- Tell me what you're doing." His voice softened. He wasn't sure, but asking her was a good way to find out.

"Luke," she said adamantly, "you don't want me to answer that." Why did he have to make everything so difficult?

"Actually, Penelope, I really do." He was damn sure not letting her off the hook now.

Penelope sat straight up and squinted at the air in front of her. She stayed quiet, hearing only silence in return. She checked her screen. She knew he was still there, but she needed to look anyway. She slowly laid back. She was certain in the moments it took her to sit up and lay down again that she had lost her damn mind. "I'm laying in my bed." She couldn't believe she even said it. Well, it was innocent enough, right?

Luke took a deep breath. Fuck, this was happening. He really wished he was in his bed too. Actually, maybe hers. "Just laying there?"

She felt the flush run over her body. Yeah, any rational thought went out of her mind. He's a coworker. You're going to need to see him daily. You're going to have to look him in the eye at work. This is Luke. All of that should've made her stop this in its tracks, but instead, it let the anticipation grow. "No, I'm not just laying here."

She wanted this too. He could tell, but she wasn't sure of him yet. Well he had to make her sure. "You're laying in bed, in the middle of the afternoon, and you're doing something. Should I guess what it is?"

"You can try."

"Do you want me to try?"

"Yes."

That was it. That's what he needed. "I'll try, but only if you do something for me first. See it's harder to guess what you're doing if I can't picture what you look like. So tell me. Are you wearing one of your dresses or lounging around in sweats? Because I don't think it's either."

Her voice was low. "No, I haven't bothered to get dressed yet." She bit her lip, waiting for his response.

"So you're in sleep clothes?"

"No, I just took a bath, and I didn't want to put on clothes, so I decided on underwear and a tank top since it's just me here."

"So you're alone in bed, wearing panties and a tank top, you just got out of the bath so you probably smell like that coconut stuff you use, and you're busy. So I'm thinking that you're doing something that I could do better for you."

"I don't know. I'm pretty good." She was circling her clit with her fingers. She could feel the sensation building with every rotation.

"I have never doubted that you are, but tell me, Penelope, would you turn down my help if I was there right now?"

She felt a new wave of heat rush through her. The phone was to her ear. She didn't want to put it on speaker. It would ruin the moment, but she did want to touch her breasts. "Well I could use the extra hand right now." She tore her fingers away from her core and snuck her hand under her tank top.

"I'd give you both. So where do you need me?"

"I thought you were good. Shouldn't you know?"

"Okay, if you don't tell me, then I'm just going to figure it out myself." He couldn't hide the smile in his voice. This was amazing. This was quickly becoming his new favorite memory, his new best day. "Since you need a hand, I'd use mine to slide into your tank top. Knowing you, it's probably low cut enough to tease me so I'd have to tease you back. I'd let my fingers run over your chest, moving from one side to the other, pulling it down lower with each stroke. Since I'm not there though, can you do it for me?"

"Already am." She was moving her free hand over one breast dipping down in the middle and then up to the swell of the other, using only her fingertips, pretending it was him teasing her skin.

"Good girl. So since I've got two hands, I could also feel your long legs. I could run my hand from your ankle, past your knee, and to the inside of your thigh, feeling the softness there and making you squirm from the sensation of my fingers on your sensitive skin. Just when I'd teased you enough, I could move up, running my fingers over the heat coming from you, before letting my fingers touch exactly where you want them. I'd feel how wet you already are because you are. I know you are, but I'm not there, so can you make your fingers wet for me?"

"Yes. I can feel how wet I am. I can hear it when I move my fingers in and out."

He growled and brought the edge of his phone to his forehead, closing his eyes and taking a breath before responding, "See, here's my problem. I'd want to taste you. I'd want you all over my tongue. So can you taste yourself for me?"

Breathlessly she answered, "Yes." She brought her fingers up to her mouth and did as he asked.

He heard the faint pop of her lips letting her fingers out. "Good, baby. I'm jealous. I wish I could taste you."

"Me too. I'd rather it was you." She let her fingers run down to her nipples again, grazing them through the fabric. Then she let her hand glide down her stomach, back to her panties.

He was trying not to completely lose his shit. He wasn't exactly in the comfort of his home. That was going to be a problem, if he didn't get a hand free soon. "Licking my fingers wouldn't be enough. I'd want to taste it all. I'd move your underwear to the side. I'd bury my face in between your legs, and I'd let my tongue run over your clit, back and forth. Then I'd move down and dip my tongue inside of you. Can you feel me doing that? Can you imagine that for me?"

"Hmm mmm, yes."

"Yes, who? Whose tongue is making you squirm? Whose hands are gripping your breasts? Whose? Who am I?"

"Luke. It's you, Luke."

"Yeah, it is, Penelope. It's me. You want it to be me, don't you?"

"Yes."

"Do you wish I was there right now?"

"Yes."

"Penelope, you're getting closer. I can feel it, but don't let it go yet. Do you understand? I'm not done with you yet."

"I understand."

He made a decision, and he needed to make sure she understood. "Good. I need to you to know something. This isn't the first time I've thought about this. Have you thought about me before?"

"Yes."

"Good. What did you imagine I did? We did?"

"Everything."

"You'd let me do anything to you? Anything I wanted?"

"Yes."

"Why? Why me?"

"Because you're Luke Alvez, and you've only been in my fantasies so, if I had you alone, I'd let you do whatever you want because I want you to have what you want."

"So if I wanted to sink into you right now, if I wanted to pound into you and make you call my name right before I come inside of you, you'd let me?"

"Yes."

"Penelope, how much do you want me?"

"More than anything."

"Anything? So you want me more than your fingers or vibrator? More than another man? You want me?"

"Yes."

"No, Penelope, listen to the question. If I was really there right now, you wouldn't hesitate?"

"No."

"Dip your fingers back into yourself, spread your wetness all over your clit, and then rub it slowly, teasing yourself. Are you doing it?"

"Yes."

"Now, bring that hand up to your cleavage and leave a trail of yourself right down the middle."

"But Luke-"

"Do it. I didn't say you could come yet."

She faintly heard a door opening. Part of her brain said she should figure it out, but the rest of her had no intention of ever moving again. She was completely shocked and yet not surprised at all when she saw Luke throw his shirt to the ground as he stalked towards her. He unzipped his pants as he swiftly mounted the bed. He pulled her legs wide as he pushed her panties to the side and entered her with force. Without a moment even passing, he pulled her tank top down forcefully, some of the lace ripping as it was stretched, letting her breasts fall out to his gaze. "Now you can come."

She felt her body raise off the bed, her head thrown back, as the intensity of the orgasm ripped through her. She moaned loudly, and she could hear his name fall off of her lips. Her eyes might be closed. She might have forgotten her own name. She wasn't sure. All she knew was when she started to refocus, she could see his eyes darting from her face to her chest.

His eyes narrowed, as he stared at her breasts while he pulsed into her harshly, making her whole body move. He never ceased his movement as he moved both hands up to tease her nipples. "Good, you did what I asked." He could feel the remnant of moisture on her chest. "Look at me, Penelope." He scanned back and forth between both of her eyes.

She felt him searching for something, something he must've found, because he growled and leaned over her, taking one nipple in his mouth and hearing a loud moan as her hands flew to his hair, gripping the curls. She wasn't sure she was comprehending what was happening. He was there. Luke was there, in her house, in her bed, in her. She could feel another orgasm building. She knew he could easily make her come again. She'd never felt more turned on in her life, and in the two minutes he's been inside her, she could already tell how talented he was.

He roughly brought a hand to lay half on her neck and half on her shoulder in a sign of dominance. The other was on the bed for support as he thrusted harder and faster. He was lust-filled and so drunk on her. She felt the sense of power she always wanted over him as he controlled her.

She could feel it building. She could feel it coming, and she brought one hand to dig her nails into his chest and the other to fist the sheet. She screamed his name again. Any shame or doubt was already miniscule, but now it was obliterated. She'd never felt more wanted or felt more need in her life. As she came, he growled and then let out his own strangled moan. She felt him coming inside of her. She felt the warmth it created. She breathed harshly. She could feel him inside of her, on top of her, surrounding her. She could feel him everywhere that no one else had ever been.

Their eyes connected, their chests rising and falling. She could see the unrestrained lust in his eyes. It didn't die out, even after the reality set in. He pulled out of her slowly, both of them lamenting the loss. He flopped down next to her. After a few moments, they instinctively turned towards each other. Both of them studied the other's face for regret, insincerity, or something indicating either of them didn't mean to do what they had just done, and neither of them found it. Both realized that they wanted this even before this happenstance of a situation where he called her at just the right moment.

His eyes fell from hers to her lips and back. "Whatever I want right?"

Her eyes widen and then darken, "Yes. Whatever you want."

"Good girl." He put his hand on her hip. "Because right now I want to kiss you. Later you're going to call the team to go out for drinks. While we're at the bar, I'm going to fuck you in the bathroom. They're going to know exactly what we did, and, when they ask, you're going to let them know you're mine now. When we get home, I'm going to come in you as many times as I want. But until then, I'm going to come on your chest, and you're going to sit on my face, and then I'm going to bend you over every surface in this house. Understood?"

"Understood." She nodded seriously. "Just one question. Did I forget to lock my door?"

"I grew up in the city, Penelope. I can pick a lock."

She nodded, understanding his answer and his previous request.

"Good, let's get started."


	3. Vanilla Bean

Vanilla Bean

Penelope and Luke need to have a joint B-day party in order to make sure the whole team can attend. They are at odds, but neither of them wants to admit why. However, Phil seems to figure out exactly why there is tension between these two, when he sees Luke getting jealous of him and Penelope flirting. He encourages Luke to make a move and Luke heeds his friend's advice with a fury.

 **WARNING** : I will never write anything that is not consensual. It is not my style. However, there is a physical act (oral) where Penelope chooses to relinquish control, and it may not be for everyone. If that's not your jam, please skip this one and wait for my next one-shot. Thanks!

* * *

"Here you go, everyone. Invitations to mine and this one's joint birthday party. As if things weren't bad enough, now I have to share my birthday month with this guy." Penelope hitched her thumb over her shoulder before continuing to pass out the handmade glittery invitations.

Luke put his arms wide. "Birthday month?" His amused face was also incredulous.

"Why can't I have the whole month? We're celebrating me being alive. A month shouldn't even begin to cover the gratefulness you should feel." She glanced around at the team standing in the bullpen.

Luke grabbed the invitation from her hand. "This is for our joint party? Where does it say my name?"

Penelope rolled her eyes and reached over to point to his name scribbled on the bottom of the brightly-colored, glossy invitation in basic blue pen.

Luke shook his head at her. "Why would you even bother?"

"Boss lady said we all could have only this weekend together. If I didn't add you to my party, we might actually have to split their attention. I chose the lesser of two evils."

JJ was smirking over her coffee cup at Matt who had his arms crossed, holding the invitation in one hand.

"It's at my house!" Luke said.

"Well, I'm in the process of moving." Penelope shrugged.

"You mean I have a pool."

"There's also that."

Rossi raised an eyebrow at them. "I will see you all in two days at the party. That is, if both of you make it to your next birthday." He smirked and walked away.

Tara laughed and put her hand on JJ's shoulder as she grabbed her bag. "See you all then." Both women waved goodbye.

"Me too." Reid smiled as he slung his messenger bag over himself.

"I'll be there too, but don't expect any presents from me. I already gave everyone the four days off. Spencer, you want a ride?" Emily asked as she started walking away.

Matt watched Spencer trot off after Emily. "I'll be there. Do you need me to do anything?"

"Aww! Aren't you just my favorite." Penelope tipped her ear to her shoulder as she smiled at him. "No worries. Alvez is going to take care of everything," she said resolutely. "Okay. Gonna go get my purse." She slowly ambled away in her high heels.

Luke observed her as she retreated. His face turned to disbelief and annoyance. "I have a feeling I'm not going to like my party all that much."

Matt chuckled. "Aren't your best friend and girlfriend going to be there? I'm sure it will be enjoyable."

Luke shrugged. "I'm glad Phil is coming. He hasn't been going out much the past couple years. But the other part, it's a little awkward, I think."

"Why?" Matt's eyebrows furrowed.

"I don't know her that well, and it's been a little difficult lately with everything going on..."

"So, it's not as great as you thought?" Matt asked curiously.

"Not sure. She's not my girlfriend - I… How do you manage marriage and kids with this job?" Luke posed genuinely.

"Kristy is amazing. We talked about what we wanted early on. We both thought it through and decided that we would truly be there for each other through anything. She's my best friend. I trust her with everything, and I _want_ to come home to her. I always miss her. I'm not sure it's something I can explain. I'm just lucky I found the person that fits me.'' He raised his eyebrow at Luke to indicate he wasn't sure it was quantifiable.

"I think I forgot that things always feel exciting at first, but then, without putting the time in, there's just no more depth to it until you get through the fog." Luke took a breath and pushed off from his desk that he was leaning on.

"Well, even if you liked her on your first date, doesn't mean you'll like her forever," Matt said.

Luke shrugged and was going to respond, but he heard Penelope's loud voice break into his cocoon. "Uh, did you see the list I gave you? Does this look like magenta to you?" Penelope held up the marker in her hand.

"Well, honestly, yes, but mostly because I don't know what magenta is," Luke answered with a grin as he watched Matt laugh.

"I'll see you two at the party. Have fun." Matt walked away.

Penelope put her hand on her hip and softened one knee. "Luke Alvez, do you want this party to be perfect or what?"

"It's not perfect if there's no magenta?"

"Obviously not."

"What do we need magenta for anyway, Vanilla Bean? The invitations are already done, and it wasn't used to write my name on them." He slung his backpack over his shoulder.

Penelope huffed and followed him through the glass door to the elevator. "Will you please stop calling me that."

"Why, Vanilla Bean? It's not a bad nickname like Newbie or Blandsome or-"

"Still, I know it's probably not a good nickname either. Especially since you won't tell me where it came from." She cut in front of him to get into the elevator and pushed the button.

"Don't worry about it, Vanilla Bean. I'll tell you one day. You might have to get me drunk first though."

"Oh, that reminds me. We should go get the alcohol tomorrow," she said to him.

"Not tomorrow. I have a date," Luke told her.

Penelope fought the urge to roll her eyes. "You have a date? Won't she be at the party the next day?"

"Yeah, but, since we actually have a day off where I don't have to cancel or run off in the middle of it..." He shrugged.

"Whatever. We can do it the morning of the party, but we'll have to go early because we also have to pick up the food and decorate and-"

"Okay, okay. We can go first thing in the morning and deplete our energy before the party even starts."

"You're the one with a date. It's not my fault that you always do that at incredibly inconvenient times, is it?" She cut him off as she marched hastily towards her car.

"Whatever. Just be at my house early."

"Fine." She pulled out her keys and then stopped abruptly, making him almost slam into her back. He stepped back in annoyance. "Wait, ew, no. I'm not coming to your house early just to see you and your _girlfriend_ making morning-after googly eyes at each other. You can come get me when you're-" She waved a hand around with a sneer on her face, "Done."

Luke watched as she trudged away to her car. He pulled his backpack up his arm from where it fell because of their near accident. She swiftly got into her car and slammed the door shut. He rolled his eyes and moseyed to his car, shaking his head.

….

Luke knocked _again_. He finally heard footsteps shuffle to the door. When Penelope opened it, he saw her in a tank top and drawstring shorts. She put a hand to her mouth to stifle her yawn.

"So I guess you're not ready to go then?" he asked dryly.

"What the hell happened to you?" She tried to blink her eyes awake as she took in his casual shirt, without his signature button-up and the dark sunglasses over his eyes.

"I could ask you the same thing." He tipped his head towards her messy hair and rumpled shirt.

"I was sleeping. When I leave here, I won't be looking like this. You on the other hand." She gestured to him.

"Whatever, I didn't get much sleep."

She yawned and shuffled towards the kitchen. "Why?" She spun around in realization. "Eww, gross. Do. Not. Answer." She shook herself and disappeared down the hall.

He scoffed and threw himself onto her couch. He didn't realize that he'd taken quite a decent nap until he heard her loud screech. "Seriously, Alvez! Could you snore any louder?"

He sat up and gave her an evil glare, even though he still had his sunglasses on. "Well, if you didn't take so long to get ready."

She circled her neck. "Are you serious? Screw you. Oh wait, someone already did." She whirled around and got out a veggie wrap from the night before and took a few bites as she moved around her kitchen.

"Whatever, Vanilla Bean. We're having a joint birthday party today, and you're still making time in your day to hate me?"

"Sometimes being a close unit makes things difficult, but, just because you're a jerk doesn't mean I'm going to keep away from everyone else. They like you, they like me, and you and I can manage to tolerate each other. Sometimes."

Luke shook his head. "Yeah, sometimes we're even nice to each other. And then-" He gestured at her, indicating her current attitude. He pushed past her to grab a water bottle from her fridge.

"Sure. Help yourself, sir," she snarled and then stuffed the last of her wrap in her mouth.

"Ya know, Vanilla Bean. I don't know what I'm supposed to do when - never mind. We've got about five hours until people are even showing up. Then who knows how long everyone is going to stay, so can we not expend all of our energy on insulting each other this morning?" He gulped the water.

She shrugged one shoulder. "Fine." She picked up her duffel bag and put it over her shoulder.

"What is that for?"

"I'm going to change for the party, I need clothes for after the party, and what if I get cold?" She was already in the hallway of the building, waiting for him.

"You have enough time to come back and change."

"So we're going to shop and pick up food and decorate, and then you're going to drive me back over here, just so I can just drive myself back? Wow, I thought you were smarter than that." She was walking swiftly down the stairs.

"And how do you plan on getting back home?"

She whirled around to him. "Well, since _you're n_ ot offering to be a gentleman, I'm sure I can call a cab, _Alvez_."

Luke watched her glide out into the harsh light of day. He put his hand to his forehead. "Damn her. Seriously, just, damn her."

….

"You're putting them up unevenly," Penelope admonished Luke as he tried to hang the balloons on either side of his sliding glass door.

"No one cares, Penelope. It's the team and their families, no strangers. Who are we trying to impress?" Luke questioned exasperatedly.

"Your girlfriend's a stranger, and I'm sure you can use all the help you can get impressing anyone." She stomped off down the hallway to the bathroom. She pulled out her lipstick again. She had spent about an hour in there already while he napped. They had run out of things to do just a couple hours after he picked her up, but she refused to admit it. So when he fell asleep, she quietly changed into her bikini top that she covered with a solid black cover up dress. The only indication of a bikini were the straps tied around her neck. She huffed again and waited a few minutes before returning to the living room with Roxy in tow.

"How many times are you going to reapply lipstick?"

"How many times are you going to piss me off?"

"Well, if we both stay silent for a half hour, people should be here, so we don't have to talk to each other anymore." He was sitting on the couch. He felt much better after his quick nap, but somehow it didn't seem to help their bickering.

She tossed herself on the other end of the sofa, crossed her arms, and sat in silence for a few minutes. "Are you even excited for this party?

"Of course I am. I want to celebrate my birthday."

"You haven't seemed very excited."

"You barely included me. I didn't really think that you wanted my opinion or my excitement."

"Didn't seem like you wanted to give me your opinion."

"If you wanted it, you could have just asked. I would have happily helped you."

Penelope shrugged. "Doesn't matter now. Let's just try to have a good time."

"Agreed."

"I'll help you clean up. I won't leave you with everything."

"I know."

"Why do we fight like this?" Penelope turned to him, asking the genuine question.

"Honestly, Penelope. I have no idea. I have no idea what I do to piss you off sometimes." He turned to look at her. They both shrugged at each other and reluctant smiles came to their faces. He was about to speak again when they heard the knock on the door.

"Someone's early." Penelope got up and made her way to the kitchen to start getting the food prepped.

Luke went to answer the door. "Hey, Phil. Glad you're here."

"Can't miss your birthday, especially after that amazing invitation I got." He nodded toward Penelope whom he saw in the kitchen.

"I'm glad somebody appreciated it." She called back to him and gave him a big smile which he returned.

Luke shook his head and shut the door. "Can you come with me for a second?" Phil nodded and followed Luke down the hall towards his bedroom.

"Guess I'll just finish this by myself then." Penelope muttered when she heard the bedroom door close.

Luke leaned against his door, addressing Phil. "Have you spoken to Lisa?"

"Not since my therapy on Thursday. Why?" Phil asked confused.

"I don't think it's going well."

"I thought you said everything was going fine, despite work being crazy."

"She seems to question me a lot. It's like she's looking for something to be wrong."

"She hasn't mentioned anything to me. Is there a reason for her to question you?"

"No. But we're not bonding very easily. It's hard to dive in when it's not going to be serious."

"If that's how you feel, then probably not. Did you tell her that?"

"No, but I can just tell. She hates when I bring up work. I know it's not fun, but I figured most people who were dating talk about their day. She seems to get agitated whenever I talk about a case. I don't really know her well enough for her to be angry at me."

"The only thing she ever mentioned to me was that misunderstanding on your first date, but she laughed it off."

"She's coming today, but she seemed less than enthusiastic about it. On our date yesterday, I talked about work. She seemed annoyed. So I talked about the party, and she seemed very annoyed. We came back here to watch a movie, and she sat on the other side of the couch all evening. I shouldn't have chosen Lord of the Rings. It's way too long. She finally left, and I spent a couple of hours wondering what the hell I did."

"She's always really pleasant. I've never seen that other side. Maybe she's tired from work." Phil shrugged. "If you aren't compatible, at least you know now."

Luke ran his hand over his face. "I suppose that's true. Not broken up about it. I just wish I understood. I told her how Garcia and I were going to get all the stuff ready for the party this morning, and that it should be a good time since Penelope put so much planning into it. I don't know. Maybe I shouldn't have invited her."

"You know, man. Maybe you shouldn't talk to her about spending your whole day with your beautiful coworker." Phil chuckled. "I think I might have just solved the mystery for you."

Luke made a face at Phil, "So I can't talk about the majority of my life? Half the people I work with are female."

"True. But most of them she didn't meet on the same night she met you. Plus, I've talked to her about Penelope and how you two brought Lou to me. I told her how nice she is."

"You've talked to her about Penelope?"

"You bring a pretty girl to give me a puppy. A puppy that I take with me everyday to therapy. Yeah, I brought it up."

Luke's mouth was open, as he tried to comprehend what Phil was saying or why he'd be talking about Penelope to anybody. "Wait, you think Penelope is beautiful?"

It was Phil's turn to look at his best friend in confusion. "Yeah, Luke. It's my legs that are on hiatus right now, not my eyes."

Luke was about to respond when he heard a knock and her annoyed voice. "If you two are done making out, the majority of our guests are here."

Luke rolled his eyes and pushed off the door. He opened it for Phil to go through. "Yeah, she's beautiful, until she starts yelling at you, and then she's more terrifying than anything."

Phil laughed as he rolled himself down the hallway. Luke greeted everyone. Penelope had already done so and was back in the kitchen. Phil gave a general hello, assuming he'd learn names as the party progressed. He made his way to Penelope. "Hey, pretty girl. Want some help?"

"Aww, Shug. You don't have to, but you are much more of a gentleman than your stupid friend over there." She flicked her wrist in Luke's general direction.

Phil laughed. "You did give me a puppy, so there's never going to be any repayment high enough."

"Hmm, I do see your point." She smiled at him. "I think everything is done. Maybe I should put chips in a bowl and set them out on the tables.

"Load me up girl. I can wheel a whole box of potato chips in one trip."

Penelope laughed. "You, my friend, might be the most efficient man I've ever met. And that is a compliment."

Phil was smiling at her. "I'll take the compliment."

"What compliment?" Luke asked as he came towards them.

"None of your business. I obviously like Phil better than you." She gave Luke a fake smile, as she pushed past him to set some things on the inside table before walking outside.

Phil was laughing. "You just keep striking out everywhere you go man." Phil wheeled past him to put out the chips Penelope gave him.

….

About an hour later, the party was in full swing. Everyone was eating except for Matt and JJ who were playing with their kids in the pool. Both Kristy and Will were happily sitting on the sidelines.

Penelope was inside cleaning up the first round of mess, which is where Luke found her. "Are you having a good time?"

"Not so bad," she answered. "What about you?"

"Yeah, I get presents." He watched her laugh. "We can clean later, just go have fun. I'm going to go change into my swim trunks. Are you getting in the pool?" He gestured to her outfit.

"Oh no. I sit by the pool. I don't get in it."

He chuckled. "Funny, I feel the same way today." He shrugged and disappeared down the hall to change.

Penelope heard the knock, and she walked over to answer it. She opened the door and saw a woman that she faintly recognized. "Oh, hey. Come in." Penelope moved out of the way.

The woman put her sunglasses on top of her head. "This is weird. I was just here last night, and now I'm getting invited in again." Penelope watched her chuckle, but she wasn't sure what the joke was.

"Uh, yeah. Right. Everyone is outside. Go eat, and be merry, and all that." Penelope gave her a simple smile.

Lisa nodded curtly with a tight smile of her own. She walked through the house to the open sliding door.

Penelope was still staring after her when Luke came up beside her. "What's wrong, Vanilla Bean?"

He startled her. "Oh, uh, nothing. I just sent your girlfriend out that way." Penelope flicked her wrist towards the backyard.

"Oh, everyone's here. We should get out there."

She nodded, and he followed her to the backyard. Lisa was talking to Phil who was sitting at the shaded picnic table with Tara and Emily.

Penelope took the seat next to Phil.

Luke was squinting at Penelope when he felt Lisa turn to hug him. "Weird, we just saw each other like twelve hours ago," Lisa said as she pulled away from him.

Luke tilted his head at her. "Yeah. Food?" She nodded and grabbed his hand as he led her to the food table.

Emily and Tara exchanged quick glances, before turning to Penelope. "You having fun?" Em asked.

"Of course, the fams all here," Penelope answered.

Spencer and Rossi came to join them at the table. "Kids are loud, and I'm too old." Rossi gestured to where the four parents were negotiating with children about pool noodles.

"Anyone want more to drink?" Penelope asked.

"I'm pretty sure I'm going to have to be stopped soon." Tara gestured to the half empty cup in front of her.

"Nonsense. I've got another batch ready to go. All I have to do is blend for a few minutes." Penelope waved her protest off.

"I do enjoy the fruit." Spencer said as he grabbed some of the sliced peaches Penelope had adorned the pitcher with.

Luke walked towards them with Lisa glued to his side. "Here, Leese. I'm in the way." Phil was going to move, so she could slide on the bench next to Penelope.

Lisa held up her hand. "Thanks, Phil, but I'm going to sit in the sun." She pointed towards where the two couples with children had chairs set up. She took a step until she realized Luke wasn't following her, and she whirled around to grab his hand, giving the table a tight smile.

When they were out of earshot, Phil spoke. "I guess Luke was right." He watched the two people make their way to the other four adults and saw her greet them all with a beaming smile.

"What's that, son?" Rossi queried.

"He mentioned Lisa acted a little, um, off sometimes. She's only ever been sunshine to me, so I never saw it before. I suppose she doesn't get paid for a bedside manner on her own time."

Penelope scoffed, "I'll say." She reached for her drink.

Her four team members suppressed smirks. "She's been short with you?" Phil questioned nicely.

Penelope held up two fingers and made a pinching motion. Phil sighed.

Tara took another sip of her drink. "Garcia, you're right. I could probably go for another. Want me to help you?"

"I'll go. I volunteered as helper earlier, and I've tragically ignored my duties." Phil smiled, and then followed Penelope inside.

When the two had disappeared from sight, Rossi brought his cup to his lips and then tipped his eyebrow. "This should get interesting."

Penelope was cutting some more peaches for decoration. "I'm not really a helper as much as a watcher."

Penelope giggled. "You're providing much needed moral support."

Phil laughed. "Hey, I'm sorry about Lisa. I'm the one who introduced her to Luke, so I feel like it's my fault somehow."

"Don't be silly. It's a choice how you treat people. She made hers."

"I told Luke she does it because she's jealous of you. You're his attractive coworker, and he talks about work, and now you're having a joint party. Lisa probably misinterpreted the situation."

Penelope tilted her head. "I suppose. But did I just hear that I'm attractive? Go on," she flirted.

Phil laughed. "I find it hard to believe you're unaware of being so pretty."

Penelope was going to flirt back again, when Luke's voice penetrated their conversation. "Everything okay in here? Need help?"

"Now he wants to help." She huffed and then sent Phil a conspiratorial glance. "No, Luke. We've managed. You can go back to your girlfriend. Thanks." She whirled around to pour the mixture in a pitcher.

Phil gave Luke a side smile. Luke nodded and left them alone.

"You know she's not his girlfriend, right?"

"Ick. If you're going to tell me they're friends with benefits, spare me." Penelope got a spoonful of the concoction and brought it to her mouth.

Phil chuckled and shook his head. "Uh, no. I don't think that's happened at all. I just meant, a couple hours ago he was telling me how he wasn't sure he should've invited her because she's been so unpleasant."

Penelope got a little bit more on the spoon and brought it to his lips to taste. "He didn't think that last night. He showed up at my door in a definite sex hangover." She scoffed.

Phil shook his head after he wiped at his lip. He saw what was happening here. He sighed. Flirting with Penelope was going to go nowhere for him. "That was only a restless night of him wondering why his date went so bad. She wasn't a good companion, apparently."

Penelope spun towards the sink to rinse the spoon. "Oh, well that's… unfortunate."

Phil let a resigned smile come to his face in acceptance. "Yeah. I'll say."

Penelope picked up the pitcher. "Ready?"

Luke eyeballed Phil and Penelope as they joined the group. Everyone had migrated towards the big shaded picnic table.

Rossi motioned for the pitcher. Even though he was a whiskey man, he would seize an opportunity when he had it. "Wow, Penelope. This is really good. You and Phil make a great team." Rossi held the cup up to her in salute. He gave JJ and Matt a glance before turning to see Emily and Tara trying to contain their smirks.

Luke narrowed his eyes when he saw Phil pat Penelope on the knee as he rolled up next to her.

"Don't we? I was just saying that. Luke tried to help, but it was clear that he would've just messed it up," Phil said to Rossi.

Penelope was pouring the cherry flavored mixture in her glass. "Obviously."

Luke was glaring at the two people at the end of the the table. Lisa dug her nails in his arm. "Luke, can you help me with my sunscreen?" He let her pull him away.

"Penelope, I forgot the extra napkins. I'm a bad helper." Phil smiled at her.

"Oh, no worries, Honey. I'll go get them." She slipped her flip flops back on and went in search of the napkins.

Phil waited until she was inside and then eyed Luke on the other side of the pool, barely paying attention to his date. "So I'm not crazy then? This is really happening?" he quickly addressed the others.

"Always. It's always happening. And yet, nothing's happened," JJ answered.

"I don't know about you, but I think this is a riot. Luke told me he essentially can't stand Lisa. Penelope is acting like she doesn't notice him at all. All he does is check on her under extremely flimsy circumstances. All she does does is pretend she doesn't want him to," Phil informed. "Should we make this happen, or is it just an issue for your team?" At this point, he wanted to help the two morons get together, but not at the expense of their jobs.

"There is no way that them being together will be less professional than them playing their idiotic games. Let's make this happen." Emily held up her glass.

"Here they come," Matt murmured as Penelope returned, and Luke was dragging Lisa towards the table.

"Where are the other napkins? I asked you to get the matching ones out because I can't reach them," Penelope addressed Luke with her hand on her hip.

"You didn't say you wanted the big ones. You said you wanted the ones for cake."

"What makes you think I only want some of them down? How does that make sense?"

"Why would I assume we need to match napkins to anything? Especially since my name is only in blue pen. I'm not sure how to compliment that color anyway."

"Fine. I'll get them myself." Penelope walked away.

Luke started after her, but Lisa was holding onto his arm. He unwrapped her fingers and followed Penelope, leaving Lisa to watch after him with narrowed eyes.

"Why do you do that? I thought we had a truce?" Luke said to Penelope as he followed her around the kitchen while she found something to stand on.

"We did. Until you piss me off again, and then truce is over." She picked up the chair and tried to get past him with it.

Luke put his hands over her wrists, stopping her in her tracks. "Why would we even bother to have a party together if you're just going to be a jerk all day?"

"Oh, I'm the jerk? I'm sorry. Have you met your date?" She tried to push past him again, but he held steady.

"You know what, Vanilla Bean? You're right. She is, but what exactly did you want me to do?" Luke stared her down.

Her eyes held anger, but now there was a question in them. "Do about what?" she asked with as much attitude as she could manage.

They continued to stare at each other until they heard footsteps. Penelope set the chair down, and Luke turned to get the napkins from the top shelf. Lisa appeared in the doorway. "I need to go," she said to Luke without acknowledging Penelope.

Luke glanced to Penelope and handed her the napkins. She slid past Lisa and gave her a curt goodbye.

"I'll walk you to the door."

Lisa made her way towards the entrance. "It doesn't seem like you want me here," she said to him.

His eyes were trained on the wall behind her. "I don't think you want to be here, not just today." He shrugged. "I don't think we have much in common."

"Well," she felt foolish and angry, and there was nothing to do but leave and hope these people forgot her so she didn't have to feel humiliated. Luke absently watched as she disappeared down the walkway. He suddenly felt a lot better as he rejoined the group who seemed to be happily joking.

….

"Thank you for the pictures. Best birthday gift ever!" Penelope hugged Michael before handing him off to Will.

Luke hugged JJ and then kissed Kristy on the cheek. Spencer and Dave had already said their goodbyes and were waiting by the door.

Matt gave Luke a head nod since he was currently holding a sleeping child in his arms, and he leaned down to give Penelope a kiss on the cheek.

"Hey, man. Can I talk to you for a second?" Phil asked Luke. The others gave Phil a grateful smile as they turned to Penelope for goodbyes.

Phil entered Luke's bedroom just like before. "Lisa is a no go then, huh?"

"What gave it away?" Luke asked dryly.

Phil let out a humorless laugh. "Dude, I'm tired, and I want to go home, so I am just going to tell it to you straight. You should make the move on Penelope that you've been wanting to make because you're running out of time."

Luke awkwardly pushed off the door. "Phil, it's-"

Phil held his hand up. "No. Everyone sees it. Don't give me an excuse about it being complicated. It's not. You like her, and she seems to like you. All of your team is a thousand percent on board." He held his hand up again as he saw Luke's protest. "We discussed it. All of us. They're on board. So do everyone a favor, especially yourself, and just take care of it."

Luke put his tongue to his lips and shook his head in frustration. "And what do I do?" He let out a humorless laugh. "It's not like I can just go from yelling at her to- and what do you mean running out of time?"

Phil rolled his eyes. "It is not my job to tell you how to make a move. Do it. Secondly, you're running out of time because, if you don't, I will." Phil exited while Luke was staring at his bed in frustration.

He strolled out and saw Penelope leaning down to give Phil a hug. They both smiled at each other, and Luke felt the same uneasy feeling from earlier. Phil nodded at him and then at Emily and Tara who were standing by the front door. Both women glanced at Luke, who recognized their knowing looks. He averted his eyes and scratched at the back of his head as he came to stand behind Penelope.

"We'll see you on Monday. Get some rest tomorrow." Emily smiled at the two of them.

Tara waved as her and Emily followed Phil out the door. Luke shut it slowly behind them and let his forehead rest on it.

"You can't claim you are tired and get out of this, Mocha Swirl." Penelope spun around and headed towards the kitchen to do clean up.

Luke let out a laugh as he stared at the door. This was insanity. Penelope made him crazy. He shook his head and then followed her towards the kitchen. He watched her scrub the dishes. They used paper plates, but she insisted glassware made the frozen drinks taste better.

"Penelope," he waited for her to look over her shoulder at him. "Truce, okay? Just, truce," he said softly.

Her eyes softened immediately, and she gave him a small smile. "Truce."

Luke covered the leftovers and was sticking them in the fridge as he spoke casually. "So, you seem to think as much of Phil as I do."

"He's funny. You've been best friends for how long? Where's your sense of humor hiding?" She glanced over her shoulder at him and giggled, indicating she was joking and not starting a fight.

Luke finished his task, then leaned against the refrigerator. "Why can't you be nice to me? What have I done to you?" he asked with mirth.

"What have you not done to me?" She finished the dishes, put some of the coconut soap in her hands, rubbed them together, and then dried them on the towel next to her.

Luke could think of quite a few things he hadn't done to her. He was supposed to make a move. He could do that. A simple move, that she could back away from if she wanted. Do it.

Luke pushed off the refrigerator and came up behind her swiftly. He used his hips to press hers into the counter and plastered his chest to her back. She took a deep breath as if the wind had been knocked out of her. It took her a moment to realize exactly what he was doing. Luke tipped her head to the side and brought his face next to her neck, inhaling her scent. He was hovering over her skin. She gripped the edges of the counter, to keep herself from squirming from the non-contact.

Luke's eyes were heavy-lidded, and he let out a half smirk when he saw her knuckles turn white. He waited a couple of beats and breathed in deeply before he finally let his lips connect with her skin. He very lightly placed a couple of kisses there. She tipped her head to the side in invitation. His lips moved faster and were leaving wet kisses all over her neck. He used his teeth to lightly nibble on the sensitive spot he found that made her gasp when he touched it.

Penelope lifted one of her hands to slide back to his hair, holding him in place. Luke felt her nails dig into his scalp. His hands traveled down to find the hem of her cover up. His fingers ran over the front of her thighs slowly. When his grip finally reached her bare hips, she felt him bite in between her shoulder and neck. She hadn't worn bottoms. Well, she did say she had no plan to get in the pool.

He moved his hands upwards. Two of his fingers from his right hand immediately found her clit, and two of his fingers from his left found her entrance. She gasped again as he slid into her rhythmically while simultaneously making circles with his other hand. His lips and teeth never left her skin.

The intensity increased as he pressed more firmly into her clit. She felt the orgasm rip through her. She lost her breath and moaned. Her hands moved behind her back as she tried to recover, untying the strings on his shorts. Her left hand pushed down until they were settled on his thighs. She palmed him. Luke growled into her ear. He put one hand on her upper back, and she tilted while his other hand traveled to flip the dress up enough for him to see. He swiftly guided himself to her entrance and thrust in. She screamed her approval as her hands moved further up the counter, laying flat. She came up to her tiptoes from the force of him moving inside of her.

The strings of the bikini top were dangling in front of him, and he pulled them to let it loose. He roughly pulled down her cover up, and then finally felt her hardened nipples with his bare hands. He let out a moan when he saw her reflection in the window above the sink of her biting her lip. He roughly squeezed both breasts and then lightly ran just the pads of his thumbs over the hardened points.

She used her hands to push harder into the counter so she could send her hips back to meet his, making him growl again as she tried to increase the intensity to get where she wanted to go once more. He brought his left hand to the back of her head, pushing her down to her forearms. He gripped her hair lightly to make her look up into the window at his reflection. He watched as her eyes widened. They never lost eye contact as he forcefully slammed into her. The reminder of who they were made her lose control, and she started screaming his name. He sped up as he watched. She couldn't hold her eyes open anymore, and her head fell forward to the divider in the sink. He let himself go as soon as he felt the involuntary internal pulsing. He moaned, as he felt himself release inside of her. His hands had come to the counter to hold himself. Both of them were breathing harshly.

He pushed the dress up again from where it had fallen, and he could see where they were joined. He groaned, which made her look up to the window again. At the same time, they pulled away so she could spin around. They kissed passionately, both moaning into the other's mouth. Her cover up was askew, and her bikini top was hanging off of her body.

She grabbed the hem of his shirt. He stepped back so that he could throw it aside. He pulled her bikini top off but left the cover up falling off her shoulder. He put his hands underneath her thighs, lifted her, walked the short distance to the dining room table, and set her down, all while kissing her.

He pushed her flat on the table, crawled over her, and trailed kisses down her neck to her chest and then to each nipple. She was moaning and panting and tangling her hands in his hair. He bunched the cover up around her hips so he could see her core. He saw his come seeping out of her, and he groaned. He stuck his fingers inside of her again, this time adding a third, and then letting his tongue tease just her clit. It didn't take long. She was holding on to the edges of the table with both hands as she writhed and called his name. He pulled his fingers out of her and got off the table. He grabbed both ankles and spread her legs so that her feet were planted on the outer edges. "Keep them wide."

Luke pushed his shorts off the rest of the way and came to the opposite end of the table to stand behind her. He pulled her cover up off one shoulder, then the other, leaving it across her stomach and hips.

He grabbed the nearby cloth napkins she had never used. He lifted her head and placed the folded up fabric underneath her head as he guided her back a little further. "Just put your hands on your stomach if you need me to pull out." He was staring at her breasts, but he saw her nod from the corner of his eye. He brought both palms over each breast to feel them again. His hips came closer to her, and he felt her tongue dart out to lick his balls. He moaned immediately, and she continued to place kisses across the sensitive skin there.

He gripped her breasts in each hand as he tried to get used to the sensation. After a few more licks, he couldn't wait anymore. He released both hands and used one to tip her head back and the other to slowly guide himself in. As soon as he felt the warmth of her mouth he had to pause. He brought his hand to her throat and gently rubbed it so that she could more easily take him in. He felt her tense, but he saw her still gripping the edges of the table. He slowly pushed in inch by inch. She was gagging, but she wasn't panicking nor had she moved her hands.

"Fuck," he said, as he realized she was even more gung ho about this than he could have hoped. He started pulsing slowly in and out. "Holy fuck. You have no idea how much I've wanted this."

He picked up the pace. Her knees started falling closer together. "Keep them wide." She corrected herself, and he glanced at her glistening folds before returning his gaze to her chest.

He was still keeping an eye on her hands. She wanted this too, and he was more than willing to return the favor. She could ride his face everyday for the rest of his life if she wanted to.

She choked a couple of times, but he could feel her purposely try to breathe through her nose. He brought his hands back to the sides of her face. "I'm going to speed up, and I'm going to come down your throat. If you don't want me to, remember what I said. If not, hold on." She didn't move her hands, and he growled louder than he had all night. He started pulsing quickly into her mouth. "Fuck. You have no idea how much I want you. How much I've thought about this. I've thought about you. I wondered what your tits looked like. I wondered what your mouth looked like with me inside of it. I've imagined what your face would look like when I just made you come. It's all better than I imagined. You are even better than imagined, and I imagined you were perfect." He saw her grip loosen from the table, and he almost wanted to whine, because it was the worst moment to have to pull away, but then he saw her hand come to her breast, and she plucked at her own nipple. "Oh fuck." He brought one of his hands to her other breast and mimicked her motion. Then he pushed her hand out of the way and held onto both of them for leverage as he finally let out his strangled moan and felt himself spilling down her throat.

He could feel her swallowing around him and her hands flew backwards to hold his thighs as she sucked him dry. "Oh fuck," he said again.

She felt the rest of him slide down her throat, and she swallowed. His words and his confession and the fact that this man turned her on more than anyone else could ever dream of made her feel like she could probably have another orgasm just by listening to him moan like that.

Luke pulled out, and she brought her hand up to her mouth. She pulled the napkin from behind her head as she sat up on the table. She was thankful for the mirror above the dining room mantle. Her eyeliner was smudged, and there was moisture around her mouth and nose. Whether it was her own saliva or him, she didn't know. She wiped at it with the napkin and then brought her thumb up to wipe the smudged black eyeliner. Not too bad, considering. She turned to look at him. He had been watching her, but he still seemed to be coming down from his orgasm.

When she bit her lip, she heard him growl. He grabbed her around the waist and carried her down the hall. Her legs were wrapped tightly around his hips. She felt breathless, and, before she knew it, they were in his bathroom. He set her down and turned the shower on. He pulled at the bunched fabric, taking it off of her, and then staring at her, finally naked in front of him. "Shit. Why didn't I do this sooner?" He didn't wait for an answer as he picked her up again and brought them both under the warm spray of water.

They were kissing again as their bodies melted into one another. Their hands were wandering up and down each other's backs.

He gripped her butt in his hands and then pressed her firmly against the shower wall. She looked down to see he was hard again already. "Shit, really?" She asked but didn't wait for an answer. She kept her hands on his shoulders as she placed a foot on the shelf on the side of the shower so she could have leverage to sink onto him. Luke moaned as he felt her engulf him again. He stared at their joining incredulously. She moved so swiftly he didn't see it coming.

"Fuck, really?" He glanced at her face. She lifted an eyebrow at him which made him smirk. He grabbed her other leg as he pinned her against the wall as they both started moving. "Damn it, you're good," he said as he felt her leg push against the shelf.

"You too," she said as she lost her breath. He rolled his hips so he could watch her face as he continued to hit the spot she needed. "Damn," she whispered and dug her nails into his shoulders and back.

"Fuck, you're flexible," he commented as he held her leg up so he could take control.

"Yea-just-ah-fuck! Luke! Oh my god!" She came again as she felt her nails dig deeply into his skin.

He waited for her to be done before he moved. He reached up to angle the water to land on the opposite wall. "You have no idea how much I've wanted to come on these. No idea. Some days I couldn't walk right because I couldn't stop myself from imagining it." He used his hands to hold her breasts up and let his tongue and lips run across both of them, moving from her nipple to the top of the fleshy mound.

"Where do you want-"

"Knees."

Penelope held onto his hips as she came to her knees. Luke was stroking himself, and Penelope was still trying to recover from her fourth orgasm of the night. He felt his orgasm creeping up on him. He saw her head tilted and unfocused. She was clearly feeling as satiated as he wanted her to be. "Hey, look at me."

Penelope watched his lust-filled eyes as he came. "Penelope, fuck." He felt himself spill onto her chest. The warmth of his come coated her, and she felt an oddly comforting sensation from it. She felt herself breathing heavily as she watched him try to catch his breath as he fixated on her chest. "Shit, that's hot." His eyes kept darting between both of her nipples now coated in his come.

"No shit," she said, still breathless.

Luke gave her another lasting gaze before helping her get up so they could wash off.

When they were both clean and breathing normally, Luke shut off the water and then grabbed towels from the shelf nearby, handing her one for herself. She looked up at the mirror. Her makeup was gone except for her waterproof mascara. She sighed. There was a natural blush to her cheeks right now anyway. Luke grabbed his toothbrush, and she tilted her head at him. He smirked and went to retrieve her stuff from the other bathroom and set it down on the counter for her.

He watched her as he brushed his teeth. "Did you bring sleep clothes?" He spit out the toothpaste and started rinsing.

Penelope continued to dig in her bag. "Uh, I brought shorts and a tank top."

Luke smirked. "You were supposed to say no, and I was supposed to say good."

She turned to catch his eyes in the mirror. "Things don't always go your way, ya know."

"I don't know. Tonight's been pretty good."

She laughed. "Well, don't push your luck. It'll be midnight soon, and tomorrow's a whole different animal." She rummaged through her bag and then set a bunch of her stuff on the bathroom counter as he went into his bedroom. She brushed her teeth and used a face wipe. She was grateful she threw her whole makeup bag in the duffel this morning. She set her lotion bottle on the counter and then donned the shorts and tank.

As she put some moisturizer on her face, she saw Luke appear in the doorway with sweats on. "What about that?" he asked.

She wrinkled her forehead. "What about what?" She set her moisturizer in her bag and zipped it up, letting it fall to the floor.

"Tomorrow."

"Oh." She didn't have the answer. She picked up her lotion and started tapping the bottle against one palm as she fixated on the bathroom carpet.

"Shy now, are we?" he asked the sarcastic question in a really sweet tone as he averted his eyes.

"I don't know what you want me to say," she admitted.

He stuck his hand out. She accepted and followed his lead. They both sat on the edge of the bed, and he watched her bite her lip. He wasn't sure he had the answer either. He followed the instructions; make a move. Move was made and successful, but no one told him what happened afterwards. He grabbed the lotion from her hand and motioned for her to sit back against the pillows. He crawled to be in between her legs and flipped the cap on the bottle. He put some on his palms and started running his hands up her legs.

"I didn't put much thought behind this," he admitted. "I mean, I've thought about it, but I-today- didn't think it through first."

"Too much frozen fruity drink?"

He chuckled. "I only had one. You?"

"Two," she admitted sheepishly.

"We're both incredibly sober, and yet here we are."

"Well, I just - yeah, I've thought about this too, but thoughts aren't-well they aren't this." She pointed her finger back and forth in between them.

He nodded. "Phil, decided to be straightforward. It worked on me, so..." He shrugged. "I've thought about this. About sex, but about you. I like you. I always have in some capacity, but I never figured it would be worth the risk, especially with work, and, well, with how you are…" He smirked, and she rolled her eyes. "So, I guess what I'm saying is, while the sex was nice, actually great, really great, we can't go backwards, but I'm not sure what forwards means." He moved up to her thighs.

Penelope bit her lip. "I've thought about sex and about liking you, but I didn't know what any of it meant either. Sometimes we're friends, and sometimes we're snarky friends. Sometimes we're belligerent coworkers, so I guess I can say I understand your predicament. I didn't think I could take a risk either. Knowing that there were consequences… But as far as forwards, I don't want to assume anything. It would make me feel embarrassed if I was wrong."

He nodded. "Well, same." He cleared his throat. "Apparently the whole team plus Phil discussed that we needed to do this." He watched the panic in her eyes. "Not sex. This, between us. I can't imagine they were all hoping we'd have some rowdy sex, and call it a day. They think there is something here. There must be. Otherwise, what are we doing? I realize people have sex without feelings, but that was never an option for us."

"Agreed. And wait, the team and Phil what?"

"I'll explain later. Or maybe they should explain to both of us. I'm not sure. My point is, I think we owe it to them, and also to ourselves, to figure out why we did this, and why we treat each other the way we do. I've never been snarky with someone I still liked. I'm only mean to, well, fugitives for example. I am not mean to coworkers. I don't argue with them over the color scheme of a party."

"Well I'd argue with anyone over a color scheme, so if that's the criteria…" She giggled. "If you want to spend more time together to figure this out..."

"I don't know what to call it, but yes I want that."

"Okay." She bit her lip again. "What exactly did Phil say to you?"

Luke shook his head with a wide grin on his face. "The team discussed that we like each other, and we needed to do something about it. He said, if I didn't make a move, he was going to ask you out, and I was shit out of luck." Luke laughed.

Penelope giggled. "He is more likeable than you." She squealed when he pinched her inner thigh. "Okay, okay. So what? I come by, and we watch tv together?"

"We're supposed to get to know each other, but that's redundant. I think we just stop denying we _want_ to spend time together, and we just do it. Tomorrow you could go home, or you could stay in bed all day with me.

"Sure, but, I don't know what that is," she said honestly.

Luke blew out a breath. "We spend our nights together when I'm in town. We can have sex, but we also have to watch movies, eat dinner, and walk Roxie. That way neither of us has to play the game where we try to figure out if the other wants to hang out, but we also don't fall in a sex trap where we don't have anything real to say to each other." He had moved up to her hips with the lotion and had been rubbing across her belly, but he abandoned that for her arms. He was going to do her chest, but he needed to finish this conversation first.

"Sex trap. Sounds fun though." She giggled at his amused face. He did that a lot with her. He'd give her a scoff and an almost eye roll, and then he'd smile at her like she was the only woman on earth. He was infuriating at best. "And we'll figure out what to call it when we feel like we need to call it something?"

"Yeah. Although, based on the looks I got, I seriously doubt they won't be asking what happened." He looked at her apologetically.

"We'll just say we talked, and we're trying to figure it out. If they know more than that... I'm not dissecting this with anyone until I do it with you, and we can't yet."

"Fine with me." He moved her shirt up and started to rub the lotion across her breasts.

"You skipped my back."

"I'll do your butt next if you want."

"Incorrigible."

"This makes it so much easier to not want to yell at you all the time." He ran his finger over a nipple, watching her shiver as it hardened. He smirked. "At least I finally got to see you naked. I've thought about that way too often."

Penelope giggled. "If you'd have told me that before, I might not have been so hard on ya. Although you never know."

"Well, this is how it happened. Can't change it now. And I wouldn't. Holy hell, that was awesome. No need to get me a birthday gift."

"I didn't," she said dryly. "Just one more question." She shivered again and took a deep breath as Luke pulled her shirt off. "Where did Vanilla Bean came from?"

"I can't-"

"You have to." She simpered at him.

He groaned. "I opened a whole can of worms. I'm never going to be able to say no to you now, am I?"

"Did you ever really before?" She smiled coquettishly.

He rolled one eye. "Okay." He pulled away from her. "I got a little bit too drunk one night, and I brilliantly decided to call you and talk to you about, well, I guess about this. I kept telling my phone to call Penelope, but it thought I was saying call Vanilla Bean. It's not my shiniest moment."

Penelope's eyes were wide with shock. "That's the best thing I've ever heard in my life. If you wanted me to like you, you should've told me that the second it happened," she said sincerely.

"When does the hazing start?" He averted his eyes to the bed.

She giggled. "No hazing. That's- I wish I had a better nickname for you now."

He chanced a glance at her. "Mocha Swirl is no fun," he agreed.

"It's not. I was just trying to find an ice cream name for you. If I'm ice cream, then…"

He chuckled. "Yeah, I don't even like ice cream. You'll have to find a name for me that fits. Not Newbie." Luke stared at her with genuine eyes.

She smiled at him sincerely. "Of course not. Wait, you don't like ice cream? Then why did you already have some when I went to get some for the cake?" she asked curiously.

Luke hovered above her again and gazed into her eyes. "Because one way or another, I was going to taste Vanilla Bean."

* * *

Thanks for all the encouragement and PM's, reviews, follows, favs, and anything and everything. So many of you have reached out and it is wonderful. Even if I don't get back to you right away, please know that it probabaly has to do with me resting my back from physical therapy.

I know I owe updates to some of my other stories, they are written but the final touches have not been made, please bear with me.

Huge thank you to BookDragon2013 for encouraging me to leave the smut as is. You're right.


	4. Bar Brawl

Bar Brawl

Penelope is going through something personal from her past. Those issues have made her other emotional turmoil come to the surface. Luke tries to be there for her but he was so blind to what was happening, he doesn't understand his part in it. When Penelope finally reveals how she was feeling about their interactions, Luke realizes he has to try and make it right but Penelope isn't sure that she can let him.

 **Attention :** This is NOT smut. This is NOT romance. It's angst-y and emotional. There _is_ hope in this piece but this does not end with everything wrapped in a pretty bow, only the possibility that it can get there. Please be aware of that. If you're not up for some drama then please skip this one. I have more coming out that are full, happy endings.

* * *

The team walked into the bar and made their way to an unoccupied booth. O'Keefes' karaoke night got too crowded, so here they were at the Tavern. Luke asked Matt to bring Kristy so Lisa didn't feel as out of place. She had only met the team briefly. Penelope was the only one not in attendance because she had been feeling ill.

After everyone else was seated, Luke was still standing next to the booth, staring across the room. Everyone followed his gaze. Penelope was in a small booth, speaking very animatedly to a man whom they could only partially see.

Everyone exchanged glances, but Luke never took his eyes off of her as he spoke. "Why would she lie about feeling sick?"

"I honestly have no idea." JJ knew it wasn't like her best friend to be deceitful.

"Maybe it wasn't planned." Matt glanced around again, but his eyes landed back on Luke.

"It looks planned enough." Luke gestured towards the woman who was so deep in conversation she didn't see nine adults staring at her from across the bar.

"Who is she talking to like that?" Kristy questioned genuinely.

"Lover's quarrel? You don't argue like that with a friend," Lisa mentioned.

Everyone else exchanged glances, even Kristy. Matt told her about the Penelope and Luke situation - how it existed and didn't exist all at the same time, how it was building, only to fade into stagnate comfort. Except, right now it seemed like Luke definitely thought it existed.

Emily was about to tell everyone to give Garcia her privacy, but she halted when the man leaned over and started yelling in Penelope's face. Every person at the table, minus Lisa, was ready to jump up, throw Penelope over their shoulder, and punch the man who thought he could do that. But Luke was already a few strides away before anyone else could even slide from their seat.

Penelope hadn't noticed Luke until he was already at the edge of the table. Her eyes were wide as she saw his menacing face and heard his intimidating growl. "Garcia." The man across from her glanced towards the stranger that was now intruding on a private conversation. "What's going on?" Luke's eyes never left the man who was staring daggers at him.

"What are you doing here?" Penelope's annoyed tone made Luke tear his eyes away from the man he had been sizing up.

"O'Keefes was busy," he answered in a cool tone but narrowed his eyes at her. Why the hell was she mad at him?

"We're in the middle of something, so can you?" The unnamed man made a shooing motion with his hand which made Luke's nostrils flare. He crossed his arms as he stared the man down. He had dark eyes and naturally tanned skin, much like his own.

"No, actually I can't. I seem to be stuck right here," Luke commented with an attitude as his eyes roamed over this person he already hated with a passion.

Penelope rolled her eyes. Tonight was already bad enough. She didn't need this shit. "Alvez, we are in the middle of something. Just go."

Luke scoffed. "But you haven't even introduced me yet," he said coldly.

Penelope set her jaw, then took a deep breath. "Alvez, this is Carlos. Now that you've met, can you excuse us?"

There was a loud vibration, and Carlos' phone screen lit up. "Lucky for you I have to take this." He slid out of the booth and leaned into Luke's face as if he was going to start a fight, but he swept his phone to his ear and walked away.

The team followed the good looking man with their eyes. Luke's gaze fell back on Penelope. "What the fuck was that?" His own voice now raised.

"What do you expect? You came over in a huff to stare at him? Was he supposed to try and be your friend?" she asked in angry disbelief.

"No, Penelope. I don't want to be his friend, but it sure as shit is my business if someone speaks to you like that." The irony that the action Luke just denounced was what he was currently doing, seemed to escape him.

"Right, sort of like how you're speaking to me now." She yelled back as she grabbed her purse and slid out of the booth to stand in front of him. "It's not your fucking business. _I'm_ not your fucking business."

"The hell you aren't. Why in the fuck wouldn't you be my business?" Luke was certainly not intimidated by Carlos, so he had no problem closing in on Penelope either.

"We're not at work, Luke! That's the only place where things I do are your business, and even then, not so much," she said derisively.

"Were you there when we were meeting in secret outside of the job, fighting for this team? We are all each other's business."

"That's different. That was ultimately about work, or at least about the team. My personal troubles are not, never have been, and never will be, _your business._ "

"We're not even friends? Hell, I'm not even a decent enough coworker to wonder why in the actual fuck someone is slamming a fist down on a table as he screams at you? That damn well is my concern, and so are you." His hands came to his sides as he clenched them into fists.

Penelope closed the last couple of inches between them. She was too short to be face to face, but their chests were not even a centimeter from touching. Her voice was menacing but distinctly lower. "No, Luke. It's not your concern at all, but you know what is? Your girlfriend, who is sitting over there watching us have this redundant and pointless conversation. So, since I am not your concern, I'll be leaving now. Give everyone my best." She chose not to glance in their direction and whirled around to take the back exit.

Luke stayed rooted to his spot, fuming, as he watched her retreat. He didn't notice that the other man had returned.

"Where is she?" Carlos questioned.

"She was obviously done with you." Luke got closer to him.

"Really? Because she didn't leave until you showed up." Carlos took a few bills out of his wallet to throw on the table.

"Maybe she decided she didn't want to have someone scream in her face," Luke said as he narrowed his eyes again.

Carlos let out a loud humorless laugh. "Like you just were? She's always had terrible taste in men." Luke's eyes wavered, wondering what the hell this guy meant. "You're the boyfriend she's been texting to come to her rescue? Well, I don't give a fuck. Tell my sister she's testifying. It's the least she can fucking do." Carlos spun on his heel and took the main exit.

Luke was staring after him but seeing nothing but red. Nothing was filtering in his brain except the bold color. Until Matt's voice pierced through his anger. "Luke, what the hell is happening?"

Luke shook his head, as if to erase it. "I have no fucking idea. I need to find out." He started off in the direction Penelope went.

"Dude, what about Lisa?" Matt was certain Luke's actions were going to have consequences.

"Tell her I'm just making sure he's leaving, okay?" It wasn't the complete truth, but it was enough for Matt to work with. He nodded and watched Luke turn the corner before he returned to his seat.

Matt cleared his throat. "Luke's making sure the guy is gone. He'll be right back." He spoke the last words to Lisa who seemed to have a face full of question and anger.

Rossi saw a familiar form making its way through the crowd, and he shouted for the man. "Morgan!"

Derek's fuming gaze turned in the direction that the beckon came from, and he stomped towards the table. "Where is she?" He didn't bother with greetings. He needed to know where his girl was.

"She left five minutes ago," Tara informed him.

"Tell me you got rid of him already." Derek was grimacing as he tried to maintain some composure.

"Alvez did." Emily told him.

Derek pulled out his phone. "She stopped answering me about fifteen minutes ago."

"Are you her boyfriend, or was that her boyfriend?" Lisa asked in confusion.

"What? No -" Derek had no idea who the hell this was, but his explanation was cut short when his phone buzzed.

Lisa was still confused, but got distracted when her beeper went off. "Can someone say goodbye to my boyfriend for me? I've got to go to the hospital." Her voice was laced with annoyance as she grabbed her jacket and purse.

"Sure thing. We'll explain." Rossi faked a smile.

"I get that it's not an ideal way to spend your night, but is she really mad? Clearly Penelope was in trouble." JJ almost gritted out in disbelief.

"Who was that guy?" Spencer questioned Derek.

Derek tried to calm himself. "That's Carlos, Penelope's step brother. He thinks she owes it to him to testify at the parole hearing for the guy who killed their parents."

Everyone's face dawned in recognition. "So, not a bad boyfriend she was trying to hide then," Kristy said in relief.

"She told Carlos that keeping the guy locked up wasn't going to bring her parents back. It wasn't intentional. The man made a mistake, but she wants to put it behind her." Derek's anger was climbing again.

"That's her prerogative," Tara stated.

"It's actually commendable," Spencer said with a nod.

"That's our Garcia," Matt stated.

"She won't answer me." Derek's fingers moved across his phone screen again.

"I'll try Luke. Maybe he found her." Matt nodded at Derek who seemed to calm for a moment. Matt's phone lit up, and he swiped the screen. "Luke says she's fine. He'll bring her back since Carlos is gone."

Derek sighed in relief. "Well, I could use a drink."

….

Luke knew he should've just followed her, but at least he had a way to find her. He asked her to show him how to ping a phone since she had found him that way. She used their phones as an example, and they were still connected. He got in his car and hit the buttons on his phone. He waited for the dot to pop up on the map, indicating her location.

He walked through the gardens and found her sitting silently on the park bench. He knew the second her eyes recognized his because her scowl came back. "What do you want, Alvez?" She harshly wiped a tear coming from her eye.

He took a seat next to her. "That guy is your brother?" It was more of a statement, but he did still need the explanation.

She closed one eye in annoyance. "You thought I was dating someone who was practically spitting in my face? What in the actual fuck do you really think of me?"

Luke shook his head. "Come on, you know what it looked like. What conclusion was I supposed to draw?"

"None. No conclusions. Not your problem," she gritted out.

"Garcia, tell me what's happening. I'm not leaving until you do." His voice was exasperated.

Penelope scoffed again. "He wants me to testify that the guy who killed our parents shouldn't get out on parole. My life was changed irrevocably, but the guy made a mistake, and he served his time. Carlos thinks I owe him since they were searching for me because I was late for curfew. Otherwise no drunk driver would've killed them." She felt the angry tears on her face, but it wasn't from recounting the tale, but from the constant barrage of emotions lately.

Luke sort of knew the story, but he certainly didn't know the guy was up for parole. "Penelope -"

"No." She glared at him. "Don't _Penelope_ me. Garcia is enough. I don't want to fake familiarity right now."

"Fake it? Are you serious? We are pretty fucking familiar." He scolded her.

"Yeah, Alvez. I remember, but you seem to have forgotten." She fixated on the lighted path across from her.

He felt his nostrils flaring again. "What the fuck does -" He cut himself off. "I didn't forget anything. I didn't realize -"

"No, you didn't, which is more than enough answer, isn't it? More than I ever needed." She lowered her voice. "Just leave me the fuck alone, Alvez. The last thing I need is you. Believe me, I figured that out the hard way."

Luke pushed off from the bench. He was fuming, but he wasn't sure he had a right to be. "Fine, Garcia. You don't have to talk to me, but you sure as shit need to tell everyone you're okay. You need to get back to your car, or I can wait until someone shows up." Luke was gazing past her, as if she offended his eyes.

She kicked off her heels so she could hustle to her car quickly, to get out of his presence. She felt him following her, but she had no intention of acknowledging him. She started her car, and she picked up her phone to tell everyone come to her house. The alcohol was free, and she would feel better in her leggings and fluffy socks while she held a strong drink in her hands.

She ignored Luke as he walked past her car, ignoring her. She pulled out of the parking lot and went on her way, not bothering to look back at the headlights she knew belonged to him.

….

Penelope found the group gathered outside of her house. She hugged Derek, and then everyone followed her inside. "I'm going to change into crying attire. You know where the liquor is." She threw her keys on the table and disappeared from sight.

When she returned, someone thankfully already poured her a rum and diet cola. They'd all taken to the couches and floor. Penelope happily sat in her big chair that she loved because it felt like sitting inside of a warm hug. "I assume Chocolate Thunder briefed you on the issue."

Emily spoke for the group. "We can be there or take you out afterwards."

"Or instead," JJ added.

"I'll let you know." She held up her drink. They all nodded and gave her comforting smiles.

"Did Luke - Is Luke on his way?" Matt questioned.

"Nope." She got up to head to the fridge and pulled out a jar of cherries and threw way too many into her small glass.

Derek and Matt exchanged glances. Derek had been informed about what occurred before he arrived and was aware of the attraction that never got off the ground.

"So is he -"

Penelope cut Spencer off with her raised hand. "Let's not. I want you all to distract me. Otherwise, I'm going to drink until I don't remember my name"

They nodded their acquiescence and guided the conversation elsewhere. After more than an hour of idle chatter, boisterous laughter, and reminiscing, they had all but forgotten the tenseness of the evening, until there was a knock on the door.

Penelope instantly stiffened. She knew it was Luke because Carlos wouldn't bother leaving his hotel. The fury that consumed her face didn't go unnoticed by anyone as she went to the door, swinging it open with rage. "What?"

Luke glanced around. He had seen their cars out front, but he was hoping some of them carpooled and left already. "Nice greeting," he said dryly. The team basically saw them ready to have a bar brawl. What the hell did it matter now?

"Well, that's what happens when no one fucking invited you." She retreated but left the door open for him to enter.

Luke made eye contact with no one but nodded, acknowledging their presence. "We need to not leave on the note we did earlier," he stated.

She actually didn't give a fuck what note they left on, but, if she started cursing him out, she feared she would look like the crazy homicidal maniac she knew she could become, simply from knowing this infuriating man. "Fine." She gritted and then pleasantly addressed the group. "Be back in a minute." She led the way down the hall to her bedroom. Luke followed without a word.

Everyone was flabbergasted. "I'm not sure I expected that," Emily stated as the others nodded in agreement. They purposely stayed quiet, knowing they shouldn't eavesdrop. However, it didn't seem to matter because the raised voices that started moments later would be heard either way.

"What note do we need to leave this on? It doesn't matter," Penelope screeched.

"That's what I thought, but apparently it does," Luke sneered back.

"If it didn't matter _then_ , then why the fuck should it matter now?"

"Are you seriously, honest to goodness, upset? _Now?_ " he shouted.

"What does that mean? _Now_?"

"You've had fucking months haven't you?"

"There's a time limit on feelings? Excuse me, _Agent Alvez_. I was unaware."

"Penelope -"

"Don't," she warned.

"Garcia, what the fuck do you want me to say? Didn't we decide to ignore it?"

"Did _we_? That was you."

"Oh, me? I don't remember telling you to do that," Luke sarcastically sneered.

"I don't remember you telling me anything at all." Her voice was laced with indignation.

"You didn't want me to say anything, and you have been perfectly fine pretending like -"

"Am I?" She let out a dark chuckle and a disbelieving snort.

"Then tell me what I'm supposed to do. All of a sudden it matters? Fucking spare me." Luke's tone was unwavering. He was certain there was nothing to talk about. Too much time had passed.

"Nothing. I want nothing from you. I can honestly say, I want nothing from you," she screamed at him.

"Then why are you acting like this? Explain to me why you were better, then worse, then better, then you decided there was nothing special you had to say to me at all, so… I can't imagine why suddenly it's my fault?"

"Nope. We're both at fault. We can keep pretending like we get along when we're with everybody else, but not if you continue to act like you have a say in my life."

"You really think I would've let someone scream at any of the team like that? For real, you're mad about this?"

"Only because you wouldn't have also gotten into a yelling match with them, while simultaneously stating, it's essentially your right to act and decide on their behalf. You see the difference there, _Alvez?"_

"Fine, you don't want me to treat you any different? I won't. Not a problem."

"Yeah," she scoffed. "You have made that _abundantly_ clear."

"Are you fucking serious right now, _Garcia?_ You just got mad at me for treating you differently, all because I didn't treat you differently enough. You see the insane dripping out of you right now, right?"

"Yup," she answered resolutely. "I've felt nothing but utterly psycho since then because I cannot seem to grasp what in the actual fuck I'm supposed to do about it."

"Join the fucking club, _Garcia._ I'm not even allowed to say your first name."

"Ugh, are we fucking done? I'm seriously over discussing this. Don't you need to head on home? Won't she be worried about your whereabouts?" Penelope was speaking loudly, but had lost some of her steam because it hurt to even say.

"I'm sorry. Is that wrong somehow? Am I not allowed to hang out with my girlfriend?"

"Oh no, you're one hundred percent allowed to do that. It doesn't matter anymore."

"Did it ever?"

Penelope waited a beat before screaming even louder. "It did. Until you decided that sleeping with her, five seconds after sleeping with me was not supposed to be any of my concern. You made that decision for all three of us, didn't you, _Alvez?"_

The voices stopped. Every person currently occupying the living room had to pick their jaws up off the floor. They thought it had been, will they or won't they. They didn't think it was, they have and now they aren't.

"We need to leave. Now." Rossi motioned with his hands for everyone to move their asses.

"We can't leave them fighting like that." Derek made no move towards the door.

"Yes, Son. We are. This is not a situation we need to be a part of. Let's go." Rossi's voice brooked no argument.

"Do we tell them we're leaving?" Derek questioned sincerely.

"I - let me do it. Luke is my best friend, and Penelope is my sister. Neither of them will feel like I'm influencing anything." Matt nodded at the group, and swiftly made his way down the hall. He lightly tapped on the door.

Luke was pacing in front of it, so he opened it without looking. "We're leaving, but call anyone of us if you need to." Matt glanced between both of them as they nodded.

Luke shut the door. "No need. They're gone." Penelope indicated the closed door, as she sat on the edge of the bed.

Luke raised an eyebrow in agreement, but it didn't seem to matter. "Pen - Garcia, what do I need to do to make this better?" He spoke in an even tone, which made her laugh. Now that they were alone, they finally weren't loud enough to hear.

"You can't, Luke. It's done. It's over. Never was. I don't care. No, I _can't_ care." Penelope shook her head.

"That's not acceptable. I have to do something. We're friends." He saw her swivel her neck to glare at him. " _Were_ friends. We're friendly coworkers -"

"Too friendly, I imagine." She placed her hand over her forehead, closing her eyes. "We were _becoming_ friends, finally, but we fucked that up. I've done my best to act normal. I've succeeded, almost too well, but you know why I was able to? Self preservation. I couldn't think about it, so I _had_ to act like you were just another team member." She shrugged.

"I thought you were indicating you didn't want to deal with it. Fine by me. I'm not going to force it. Why make you hate me more?"

Penelope laughed. "You're incredibly thick, aren't you?" She couldn't even look at him. "I didn't want to assume it was anything other than a drunken decision. If you wanted anything from me, before or after that, you never showed it. I gave it time. I didn't know the answers either, but then… You have a girlfriend, Luke. Why are we even discussing this?" She was staring blankly at the wall, with tears rolling down her face.

Luke's face fell in agony. "Pen - Gar-"

"Save it. Even if you loved me too, it doesn't matter anymore. You broke my heart, Luke Alvez. I was in love with you, and you slept with someone else. I'm so disgusted that you - with her. I feel used and idiotic. I don't want to hear anything you have to say. It's irrelevant. I'm not the girl." She never let her eyes move from the wall in front of her. "I've already had a hard day. Please, leave. I can't do this anymore." Her voice was devoid of emotion, her face as stone as he'd ever seen it. The only thing that made her look alive were the heavy stream of silent tears running down her face.

He realized he'd done far worse than yell at her across a table. He'd done the one thing he thought was impossible. He'd made her cold. She was fantastic at happy. She was an expert at sad. She ran the gamut of human emotion. She didn't just feel, she _felt._ But here she was, with nothing left to give because of what he unwittingly took from her.

"I didn't know, Penelope. I didn't know." He knew it wasn't an excuse, or maybe that's all it was, an excuse, but it couldn't excuse what he'd done. But she needed to know that he didn't know how she felt.

She didn't move a muscle. He let his eyes fall to the floor, where they stayed as he exited her front door to the pathway. There were eight curious people, standing in a circle, obviously talking about him and the girl who he'd broken.

He was gazing past them. "Someone should go in there. She's crying. A lot. She doesn't want me here though." He let his eyes fall to the ground again and silently moved towards his car, never turning around to see if anyone was watching him.

"We should all go in," JJ stated.

"We're just ignoring…" Derek gestured to where Luke had been parked.

"We have to, not just for his sake, hers too. We don't know the exact logistics, and until or unless we do, turning on someone and making it their fault, we're isolating and making the team a negative place to be. It won't actually let her feel better either." Emily answered him but made eye contact with a few of the team members.

They found Penelope sitting in her chair. She was holding her refilled glass to her cheek as she stared blankly ahead of her. Her eyes were empty except for the flood of salty water that seemed to be endless.

The group took their previously abandoned seats. "He told you to come back in?" she asked evenly and waited for the silence that was her answer. "Nice guy." She took a sip from her drink and then continued her silent glare.

Matt stared at her, almost scared he couldn't really see her in there. "Do you want to-"

"He broke my heart, and he wasn't paying enough attention to notice." Her voice carried no intonation.

"You haven't seemed heartbroken, when - how - did he -" Rossi didn't actually want to pose the question.

"He didn't cheat on her. This was before he even met her, so you might see my confusion as to _why_ Alvez went on a blind date at all." Penelope's eyes were heavy, not from sleepiness but still, somehow, from exhaustion.

"Penelope, what happened?" JJ practically whispered it.

Penelope scoffed. "Believe me, I've been trying to sort it out. Look, no one needs to be shitty to Luke. To be honest, it wasn't like he was _trying_ to hurt me. I get to be upset, but everyone else, just, don't bother. It won't help." She took another sip of her drink but continued to gaze past them. "We were headed somewhere, and then there was a lot of misunderstanding on both our parts."

Tara quietly spoke. "I don't mean to sound naive, but, if you care about each other..."

"And if it was a misunderstanding…" Kristy continued.

Penelope shut her eyes. "If it was only a miscommunication still, then I'd say 'hell yeah, let's fix it right up,' but it's too far gone now. Do any of you actually think I could have him here next to me and not think about the fact that he literally decided to come inside of her while I was at my house crying? Is that a thing I'm supposed to forget because he says, _my bad._ Honestly, I love you all, but fucking spare me."

JJ and Kristy had wet eyes. Tara and Emily were both biting their lips, as they attempted to stop feeling the words she had spoken. Spencer exchanged glances with Rossi, who let his eyes shoot between Matt and Derek. Derek and Matt shared equal looks of helplessness. No one seemed to be sure they understood, and no one seemed to be sure that they didn't know exactly what she described.

"I - there's nothing that -" Matt heard her say it was helpless, but he didn't want to believe this was over already.

"Aww, Shug, I know. Believe me, I still love him, but the thought of - it just - I'll never ever feel secure, will I? I tried to convince myself I could forget, but I will never forget. No one wants to think of anyone's exes, so how can someone expect me to forget a girl he fucked right after me, and then back to me again? That's the worst sandwich I've ever heard of."

Penelope knew they could understand her point of view, but she also knew that, if they weren't feeling it themselves, it probably seemed like a hurdle that could be crossed when the tide subsided. It wasn't. There was only about a month in between their encounter and his new one. All she could think about was the comparisons Luke could make in his mind. Had he already made them? And if he ever touched her again, all she would wonder is if he would think of someone else's body while holding hers. She would wonder if he could feel the difference in how it felt to be inside of them, if she was better than another woman at pleasing him. She would be too wrapped up in thought to enjoy pleasure. Usually these things were in the past, not the present, when you thought someone might want to belong to you.

"You should get going. I'll be fine. Other nights have been much worse than this one. I'm not even in the thick of it anymore."

They gave her hugs and dispersed. Penelope took a deep breath, downed the rest of her rum and then went to bed numb.

….

They all flew together but were staying in separate hotel rooms. Penelope was pacing in the hallway of the courthouse. Luke had shown up early and seated himself on a bench against a far wall. He was observing her as she paced. They had said nothing to one another, even though they were fully aware of each other's presence.

Carlos walked in and rushed towards Penelope, backing her in a corner and speaking harshly, but quietly, to avoid awareness from security.

Luke had his arms crossed over his chest as he observed the scene with a menacing scowl. He couldn't intervene. She didn't want him to, but it was torture to watch. When he saw the familiar faces enter the hall, he instantly made his way to them. "Someone go over there." His eyes never left where Penelope was being intimidated by a man, half a foot taller than her.

Matt, Rossi, and Derek nodded at him. Carlos and Penelope both took steps away from each other as they approached. Carlos said something else to her harshly and then made his way into the courtroom. The three men escorted her to the group. Luke had distanced himself but paced nearby.

She got comforting greetings and hugs. "Thanks for coming. I need to do this alone, but stay here in case I change my mind." They nodded, and Penelope quietly moved towards the double doors.

During the long wait, the group had taken to the benches that Luke previously occupied. He never stopped pacing and hadn't said a word, even though he partially listened to them make casual conversation.

Matt made his way to Luke. Rossi saw them moving further down the hall, and he tapped Spencer on the arm. Derek narrowed his eyes, but Rossi gave him a slight shake of his head. Derek and Luke didn't know each other that well, and this was about connecting with their team member.

Luke put his back to the wall, waiting for them to speak. "Luke what - is there something we can do?" Matt inquired.

"Do you need to talk about it?" Spencer questioned.

"No one's mad at you, Son. We aren't allowed to be." Rossi smirked.

Luke didn't quite let a smile come to his face, but he let his scowl retreat. "There's nothing to do. She's made that abundantly clear." He made eye contact with the three men in front of him. "I didn't know. I didn't know that she felt that way. She - did she tell you what happened?"

"She only said that you slept together, and then the next thing she knew you were going out on a date, and she had to act like she was as… unaffected as you were." Rossi summarized what they knew.

Luke pursed his lips and then clenched his teeth. "Sort of - we were almost - then we both pulled away. I thought that was it. I thought that's what she wanted." Luke almost wanted to let tears form. He felt like scum. He didn't know how he let it get here, how he closed himself off, or why.

"So there's nothing else?" Matt didn't think this could really be it. Maybe he was a romantic, or maybe he knew these two people could be something to each other.

"She doesn't even want me to call her by her first name. She's been doing really well these past couple months, acting. I didn't know what to do either, but I thought she was telling me to do nothing. Finally treating me like everyone else..." Luke shook his head at his own stupidity. Didn't he know her well enough to know that she hid behind her actions? She treated him differently, and then she treated him the same, and both things were meant to hide how she really felt.

"How do you feel now?" Spencer's concerned voice made Luke sigh.

"I have no fucking clue. I broke up with Lisa, but Penelope doesn't care about that now. As far as she's concerned there's no way to rewind, so it doesn't matter what's currently playing. Maybe it will make her feel better, but then what? I already broke her heart, and there's no glue in the world that can fix that." Luke was getting upset again, and he roughly ran his hands over his head in frustration.

"Do you want to fix it?" Matt asked the question slowly.

Luke put his hand to his forehead. "I know this sounds like a cop out, but until our argument, I didn't even know there was something to fix."

Penelope came out of the courtroom, and the four men made their way closer to the group, but Luke kept his distance. "I don't want to recount it all right now. Can we just go?" Penelope's voice was exhausted.

"Yeah, we'll all do brunch when we land, all you can drink mimosas," JJ told her as Derek put his arm around Penelope's shoulder and pulled her into his side.

Luke nodded at the three men he had been speaking to and then quietly moved past the group and exited the building. Everyone watched him go but said nothing. "Let's get going," Rossi instructed.

….

"I'm glad we got the pitcher of mimosas." Penelope giggled as she set down her glass.

"More economical." Tara agreed with a tip of her own glass.

"So, do you want us to take you out to a movie or mini-golf maybe?" JJ laughed.

Penelope chuckled. "I should go home. I'm tired. I should recuperate from the travel."

Everyone smiled at her. "Sure, so I guess we need to down the rest of these. Shame." Emily brought her glass to her lips.

As Penelope was laughing along with the others, her eyes caught the figure coming towards her. She felt the tension morph her body again. The table got quiet as they watched the man approach.

"Phil, hi," Penelope said sadly.

"Hi, Penelope." He smiled at her with a hint of sadness.

Derek furrowed his brow and turned to the others for explanation, but everyone seemed just as puzzled.

"Are you here by yourself?" Penelope asked.

Phil let his eyes fall to the ground. "Actually, I'm meeting Lisa."

Penelope nodded. "Right. Makes sense."

"I'm early, so it should be another twenty minutes." He talked to Luke last night and this morning. He talked to Luke after it happened. He talked to her and Luke right before it happened. He had been apprised the whole way through, but, yet, he felt clueless. He only had Luke's side, and, until Luke told him what Penelope said, he was as certain as Luke that nothing mattered.

Penelope gave him a grateful nod. "We're leaving soon." She turned towards the curious faces surrounding her. "This is Luke's best friend, Phil. Phil, this is our team." The group smiled at him kindly, if not, sadly.

Phil gave them a half smile but turned back to her. "Look, Penelope, I -"

Penelope held a hand up. "It's not your fault."

Phil nodded. "Uh, Lou says hi. I'm sure he'd like to see you."

"I miss that little guy." Penelope smiled.

Phil chuckled. "Well, we can take him out. We'll leave Luke out of it. He's annoying with his alpha dog crap anyway." He quieted. "You can call me to talk..."

"Sure, I'll text you later." She watched Phil head to a table to await his breakfast companion and then addressed her friends. "We should head out."

As they were saying their goodbyes, they saw Lisa pull into the parking lot. She noticed them and ambled towards them slowly. She came to stand in front of Penelope. "It was before, not after?" she asked in a low voice. Penelope nodded. "So when we met and we talked - it already happened, but it wasn't still happening?"

"Nope."

Lisa gave her a curt nod and tried to smile, so she didn't seem menacing, but she knew she failed.

Penelope watched until she disappeared through the door. "This just keeps getting better and better," she muttered. "I gotta go." She went to her car, waving goodbye, but needing to get away.

"This is fucking stupid." Emily gritted her teeth.

"It's not like we can make her feel better, and it doesn't seem like Luke can either," Spencer stated.

"I don't think she wants to let him," Matt stated.

"Should she?" Derek knew his tone was biting, but he couldn't fathom why that was the concern.

Tara glanced between the two men. "I don't think any of us are saying what they should do. We're just stating where we are."

Derek nodded. He knew everyone said Alvez was a good guy. If Penelope loved him as much as she must've, then he couldn't be a bad guy.

"He broke up with her," Matt informed the rest of them.

"So what does that mean?" JJ questioned with a hint of hope in her voice.

Rossi spoke, "It means Penelope matters to Luke. But it doesn't mean that it will change Penelope's perspective."

….

Penelope had been binge-watching. She didn't realize how many episodes you could get through if you didn't move, other than to refill your snack bowl and pee. It was ten at night. Only eleven hours ago she was with her friends at brunch, but it felt like she hadn't seen anyone for days.

She jumped when she heard the knock on her door. Everyone checked in via text, and those that didn't were getting their info from someone who had. She sighed. It was him. It had to be. She shuffled to open the door. Her unamused eyes came to meet his.

"I don't want to fight. I would like to talk though. I really want to know how I could let this happen." Luke's solicitude was evident.

Penelope waved him in, shutting the door after him. She took a seat on the couch and hit pause on the tablet which was connected to the screen on her wall. Luke sat on the other end of the sofa with slight trepidation.

"First, do you want to tell me about the parole hearing?"

"I said what I had to say, so did Carlos. The parole commissioner listened to both of us and she decided that the guy was sincerely remorseful and served his time." Penelope shrugged.

"And you're okay?" She gave him a sad smile and nodded.

"Talk." She flicked her wrist.

He wasn't going to beat around the bush. He'd obviously made the mistake of not being direct already. "When we went to Phil's that day, did you want what happened to happen?"

"I didn't think it would happen that day, but, at some point, yes."

"So it wasn't an alcohol-influenced decision?"

"It was. But I would've done so sober, under different circumstances. I had to put a shield up. You acted like it wouldn't have happened if it weren't for the alcohol."

Luke scratched the back of his head. He had no idea. He couldn't see it anymore. It was all blurred. "So Pen - Garcia, what did I do that made it seem like you couldn't even acknowledge what happened?"

"When we woke up, you seemed embarrassed, and not morning-after-awkward, I mean embarrassed that it happened. I thought I'd let you take the time you needed. Maybe you were just uneasy, but time turned into nothing. And then… you're going out to dinner, and I'm pretending it felt completely normal to meet her."

"I was embarrassed how it happened. We were shit faced drunk. You don't sleep with a coworker or friend in those circumstances, and think it's a great idea."

"I agree, but, once it happened, it either becomes a mistake or not. It was a choice, Luke."

Luke nodded, acknowledging he understood. "I felt bad for letting it happen. I thought I was the douchey guy who uses alcohol to take advantage of a situation. I assumed you knew I wasn't really like that and did me the favor of letting it fall by the wayside. So we could laugh about it in ten years as that one time we had too much sangria."

"Believe me, I knew it wasn't romance. I wasn't thinking we were in a fairy tale, but I sure as shit didn't think it was some one night stand."

"I never thought you wanted anything more from me. I wasn't sure you even wanted that, at least, not beyond that moment in time."

Penelope crossed her legs underneath herself. "I never thought you would sleep with someone, already in your life, without having any further intentions."

"Why not call me on it? Why start welcoming me in the fold without hesitation?"

"When I was giving you a hard time before, it was because I was trying to push away any chance of developing feelings. They developed anyway, so I had to keep it up despite the fact that it was getting ridiculous. Along the way we still had to become friends. That day, going with you to Phil's, I couldn't see beyond that. Why would you take _me?_ Why trust me with such personal things? Why would you ask me to have drinks and dinner afterwards? And not, a round at O'Keefes, but at your house, alone? You didn't mean any of that?" She felt distinctly vulnerable at that moment, but it was what she needed to ask finally.

Luke sighed and settled back into the cushions. He stayed quiet for longer than she expected, but she could see the wheels turning in his head. "I did mean something by it, but I didn't know that I did. It just felt natural to have you help me. All I knew at that moment was I wanted to be around you. I didn't realize what it seemed like from your side. I should've been honest with myself and figured out my intentions. Not thinking it through bit me in the ass. My inhibitions got lowered, and I acted on what I felt."

Penelope was watching him as he spoke. She could see it was the truth. He wasn't even sure where it was buried. His eyes came up to meet hers, but she couldn't quite feel the jump in her heart that she used to. "Okay, I believe you. I do. But, it doesn't un-break my heart, so just like then, I don't know what you want from me."

"Ideally?" He raised an eyebrow at her to ask if she truly wanted to know. She didn't move a muscle, but she kept her eyes trained on his. "Ideally, you'd say something like, _you're an idiot, but you're cute, so it's okay_." He watched her lips almost turn upwards. "More realistically, you'd try to forgive me and at least tell me there was a chance."

"I'm already nice to your girlfriend. How much do you need from me?" She didn't use a harsh tone, but she didn't know if he realized how chill she had actually been.

Luke shook his head. "No, Penelope. I mean _we_ move past this, but you've made it pretty clear that there will never be a we."

Penelope let out an incredulous scoff, but there was little venom behind it. It was more of a true moment of disbelief. "My God, if there was ever a moment where too little, too late, applied. Does your girlfriend know you're over here saying this shit to me? Because if she doesn't, you need to go tell her." Penelope glared at him.

Luke met her eyes. "No, Penelope. I broke up with her." He watched as her eyes wavered. Despite saying nothing mattered anymore, he at least knew the news brought her some relief, whether she wanted it to or not. "I can't have a relationship that started with… bad karma." Luke saw Penelope roll her eyes and then plant her feet on the floor. "See, right there. What was that? Why not tell me what I said wrong, rather than secretly jot down another reason to hate me?"

Penelope put her tongue between her teeth and then took a deep breath, "You're right. Might as well show my cards anyway. I felt better for half a second. You weren't going to fall in love while I rot in a corner watching you. But you only broke up because you don't want _your_ relationship to have bad juju. It's not that you want to _at least_ figure out why you did this, and it's sure as shit not about me, which I should already know. God, I'm stupid. I already told myself…" She stopped talking as she felt the tears well up in her eyes.

Luke moved to comfort her, but she shrunk towards the arm cushion. He pulled his hand back. He placed his elbows on his knees while he cursed himself. "Penelope," he said her name whether he had permission or not. "I did do it for you, even if you don't want fuck all to do with me. What I meant was, there is nothing good that can come out of something I started without knowing where I stood. Maybe you and I aren't meant to be anything, but I know that holding onto something isn't worth it when I'd rather know if you and I can be everything."

Penelope knew the words sounded nice, and they almost made her feel better, but there was too much hurt to be erased by a few niceties. "I hear what you're saying, but right now I just can't see why it would matter."

Luke took a breath, "You can have time to figure that out. I'm not going out with anyone else until we know. I don't care how long that takes. But are you _really_ saying that what I did, even if I was just being dense, it's irrevocable?"

"I don't want this to sound sarcastic, but are you telling me you can un-sleep with her? Because otherwise, what you did, is irrevocable, is it not?"

Luke clenched his jaw. "I understand that part, the logistics. What I mean is, the feeling, the place you are in right now, is that the only place I can live from now on, forever?" Luke swallowed as he watched her close her eyes.

"Luke," she turned to make eye contact, "it feels that way." She felt the tears spilling over and the inevitable hiccup came from trying to hold in her sob.

Luke could feel his own emotion building up, and he cleared his throat to contain it. "But what if - what if it isn't? If I work to prove... with some time..."

She started shaking her head. "I can't promise that, Luke. I can't see past my pain right now."

"Can you just give me the chance? At least to be friends... Maybe it can be more again..." Penelope saw the sincere hope in his eyes.

"We're both on this team, and I have to process this anyway. I might not be able to give you more, but I won't kick you along the way." She shrugged as she wiped at her tears.

"I can work with that." He smiled at her.

"Can I ask something that might seem petty? It's not meant that way." Penelope knew they had come to a tentative agreement, but she wanted to know if he could fathom how she felt.

Luke was apprehensive, but he just promised to do the work. "I won't take it the wrong way." He assured her as he angled himself to show he was listening.

She crossed her legs on the couch again, facing him. "When you brought Lisa to the bar last month to meet everybody, did you see the blonde guy I was talking to by the jukebox?"

"I did." He almost smiled. It seemed funny that he was so attentive to her even though his date should've occupied his night.

"Well, I carpooled home with Tara, but, after she dropped me off, he came over, and I had sex with him." Penelope stopped when she saw Luke's eyes narrow.

"What is -"

"I had sex with someone else. I saw him naked. He pinned me on my back as he thrust into me. I straddled him. On this couch, actually." Luke glanced at the smooth surface underneath her. "Genuinely, can you think about that and feel nothing? Can you imagine that I was wet as he slid into me easily, but it was still a nice stretch that made me moan and dig my nails into his shoulder. If I told you I didn't know you liked me, would it be enough for you to erase the image of me on my knees in front of him?" Penelope's head was titled in curiosity. She wasn't trying to be cruel, but this was all she could see when she thought about him with someone else.

Luke's eyes were rage-filled, and his nostrils were flaring. "Are you trying to start a fire, Garcia?"

"No, Luke. I am not," she said adamantly. "I need to know if you understand even a speck of what is imprinted on my mind. What was etched on my brain the moment I heard you tell Matt that you were late to meet him at the gym because you were - Maybe just a slice of the mind fuck, just a fraction of what I felt, because you weren't waiting around, thinking I was coming for you, only to be blindsided by the fact that you weren't even on my radar. So I want to know, can you wipe it out of your mind and not think about him coming inside of me?"

Luke stared straight ahead at the screen in front of him as he clenched, unclenched, and set his jaw. "No, it's fucking difficult to not think about it. To not be utterly disgusted by it. I see your point." He gritted out.

Penelope nodded. "I'm not crazy, Luke. So please, don't act like I should be able to do this just because you're aware now."

Luke scoffed, but he understood, even though a big part of him wished he didn't. "Alright, Penelope, but, even knowing that, it doesn't make me not want you, so I'm going to hope that we can work on you feeling the same way. I might even beg at some point."

Penelope shrugged and wiped the rest of her tears away with the back of her hand. She hit play on the tablet and fluffed the pillow behind her without saying another word.

Luke chuckled. "Am I allowed to stay and watch you watch tv?"

She shrugged again. "If you're that pathetic."

Luke laughed again. "It's not pathetic to want to spend time with you. Although, I did say I wasn't above begging, so maybe."

Penelope pursed her lips as she tried to contain her giggle. He caught her eye, and she reluctantly had to smile, but after a moment she quieted. "Luke, what happens if I do forgive you?" He might have said he wanted to move past this, but she needed to know what the hell that meant.

"I want to date. No, not just date, have a relationship with you. A real one, one that…" Luke turned towards her again. "I have never thought about settling down until I knew you. I realized that the only reason I changed was because of you, and you weren't even trying to get me to. I think I fell in love with you a really long time ago, so if you're asking what I want… I want all of it."

"I wish I still did."

Luke nodded but leaned back into the couch. After a few silent minutes, he spoke again, "We had an argument at a bar."

"You're lucky I didn't hit you," she said dryly.

"Would it help?"

"I'll let you know."

* * *

I am perfectly content leaving this here. It has been suggested that this can be a longer fic. I can show Luke winning Penelope over and how they finally do the work to get there. I am not entirely opposed to that, but it was not in my plan, so if I did, it would be a long way out. As most of you know, I have many open fics right now that need updating so it would be a wait. For now this is a one-shot that just isn't a happily ever after.

Thank you for reaching out in any capacity, it is always genuinely appreciated. Once again, I am having serious physical therapy right now so sometimes I can't type for extended periods of time and I might not get back to you or update exactly when I'd like. Thank you for sticking around!

Thanks to BookDragon2013 for reading this so quickly! You know it was haunting me.


	5. Just Listen

Just Listen

Updates to When, Signals, and Summer all happening within a few days.

 _ **Warning:**_ Explicit description of oral sex. A hint of a sub/dom thing.

Please wait for another one-shot coming out next week if this one isn't right for you. Thanks.

This was written before the episode with her family. This was supposed to be her getting back to her hotel after the hearing and Luke had come to support her.

* * *

"The hearing is over. You can fly back home and get out of my way," Penelope screeched. She and Luke had been in a fight since they left the courthouse. She was angry that he, of all people, came to support her. More than anything, she was mad that he saw her at her most vulnerable.

"Is that it, Penelope? I'm just in your way?" He followed her into her hotel room.

"No, Luke. I'm glad you came, but it's over now. You can go back home."

"I didn't come here so you could be alone."

"I'm always alone."

"You have no idea - Fuck! Are you really this ungrateful that someone cares?"

"Oh my God, Luke. What do you want? Want me to get on my knees and blow you? Will that be thank you enough?"

"Well at least then you could shut the fuck up for once and just listen." He was fuming mad as he stared her down.

Her eyes narrowed. He could see the venom there, but then he saw them flick towards his groin and back to his face.

They stared each other down, their eyes still angry but now frantically trying to read the other's. Luke let his eyes flicker from the zipper at the front of her dress and back to her face.

He made a decision and started to close in on her. She backed up to the door as a natural reaction to his advance. His face came within inches of hers. Her eyes dropped to his chin and then back up to meet his. She wasn't sure if she saw a challenge there or if she was hoping she did.

Without dropping eye contact, she reached for his belt, then unzipped his pants, and pushed them down to free his erection. Without looking away from him, she dropped to her knees and started kissing and licking his balls. Luke's palms came forward to rest on the door to hold him up as he watched her.

He didn't move as she took him in her mouth and started moving her tongue all over him. She used her hand to hold him at the base as she hollowed her cheeks. When she glanced back up at him, she saw his nostrils flaring and his chest heaving as he attempted to restrain himself. She let him fall out of her mouth, then reached up to his arm, and placed his hand on the back of her head. Then she used her hand to surround him again as she placed a few kisses to his shaft. His eyes flared at the direction she had just given him. It only took another moment before he took action.

He grabbed her wrist to retrieve her hair tie, "I've told you I like your hair up. You don't listen to anything I say." He pulled her hair into a high ponytail as she continued to let her lips wander across his skin, to his inner thighs, back to his balls, and to the head of his cock.

He inched forward and then reached to undo the zipper at the front of her dress just enough that he could hook the cups of her bra under her breasts. He palmed both of them and ran his thumbs over her hardened nipples. He removed his hands and stared at her chest as she licked at him. He grabbed her by the ponytail and angled her head upwards, he used his other hand to roughly guide himself back into her mouth and started moving. "Look at me." She made eye contact with him as he pulsed into her mouth. He growled and removed his shirt, tossing it aside. Her hands came up to his abs. He returned one hand to the door for support and the other to grab her ponytail, his hips never ceasing. She raked her nails down his stomach back to the tops of his thighs. "Did I tell you to stop looking at me?" Her eyes had wandered to his chest throughout her discovery.

She looked back to his eyes. "I'm going to speed up. You touch my knee if you need me to stop, but don't stop for any other reason than you need to. Don't stop just because it's messy. That's how I want it." Luke watched her eyes. He swore he saw a moment of concern, but there was a hell of a lot more passion.

He started thrusting faster, and her gagging increased, and so did the sounds of suction. "Fuck, I love how I sound going in and out of your mouth." She felt the drool spilling down her chin, and she removed one hand from his thighs to wipe at it. "No, put it back." She returned her hand to his thigh. There was drool running down both sides of her mouth to her throat. He removed his hand from the door and wiped it away for her. "I can take care of things, P. You don't have to do everything yourself." He wanted her to know he meant it in more ways than one.

He gripped her ponytail harshly to let her know she was letting her eyes wander again, and she corrected herself. He wiped away more of the drool coming down her face. "You're going to fucking listen, just like I told you you would."

He searched her eyes again for understanding. "I would do anything for you. Anything. Do you understand that? I'm yours. I have always been yours. Stop trying to be alone. I swore to you a long time ago I would be there when you cried. I fucking meant it then, and I sure as fuck mean it now." He slowed down as he pushed deep, as far down her throat as he could. Her gagging got worse, so he pulled out, long enough for her to take a deep breath and then inserted himself back in as far as he could, rocking gently. The back of his hand wiped at her face again, drying it from the heavy amount of saliva that she'd produced while he fucked her mouth.

"P, I don't do things out of obligation. I do them for you. I will _always_ do them just for you." He sped up again. "I'm going to come down your throat while you gag on me. You know why? It's not because this is the best blow job I've ever had. It's because I want you to know I can take the burden of control away from you when you don't want it." He pulsed faster. She dug her nails into his thighs and hips as she attempted to breathe. Her jaw was tense, and she could feel tears in her eyes. Whether from his words or the action of trying to breathe, she had no idea. She felt his thumb come up to wipe them away while never ceasing his thrusting. "If you don't start listening, you're going to have a hell of a time explaining why your knees are always bleeding." He made sure to pull her hair so she was paying close attention. He wouldn't let her eyes move as he pushed deep and fast and then finally, "Penelope." He moaned her name as he stayed deep in her throat and spilled himself over.

His cock filled her mouth, and he felt his come surrounding him as she took swallow after swallow to get it down. He pulled back, only to have her lean forward to finish licking him clean. Her hand came to grip him again, so she could hold him to her and get everything off of him.

He let her finish licking him as he wiped the rest of her face off with either hand. He waited until she was done. She sat back on her heels, catching her breath. She was staring straight ahead, almost at his knees, but not focusing, as she tried to reconcile what had just happened.

He had been swept up in anger as he yelled at her, and then passionate cloudy judgement as he advanced on her, but as soon as she dropped to her knees in front of him, he saw his Penelope there - vulnerable and willing, confused and passionate. His clarity came into focus. He was present for every movement of their actions. He was aware, and he made sure not to forget one detail.

"P?" He was asking for her attention, but she wouldn't shift her gaze. She felt shy, but her breasts were still out, and she was still on her knees right where she had been. He almost wanted to roll his eyes, but his amused scoff and smile came out instead. He pulled his pants up just enough to hang off his hips, and he knelt down in front of her, forcing her to look at him again. He saw the frantic concern in her eyes. She was realizing what they did, how she couldn't take it back, and how they were very much still coworkers.

"Penelope, I told you to listen to me."

"Luke, I've never had one, but I'm guessing anyone getting a blow job will say whatever they need to." She brought her fingers to the corner of her mouth as if she was worried her face was still a mess.

He sat back on his heels, grabbed her hands, and let the backs of his palms rest on his knees. "Maybe, but not me, not this time. I meant every word because I meant it before your beautiful mouth was surrounding me. I meant it a long time ago. I'm yours. I want to be there whenever you need me. Stop pushing me away. I don't want to go."

Her eyes softened, but she felt a tear slip down her cheek. "Why? I'm not-"

"You're you. You're amazing. You're the best person I've ever met. You live your life with kindness and childlike wonder, and then you fall to your knees and choke on my dick. You're more than a little interesting, Sweetheart. Please don't tell me no one's thought that before, or you're meant to be alone, or anything else. You know you're amazing, and there shouldn't be a question or a doubt as to why I fell in love with you, so just fucking stop before you start. I love you."

Her eyes frantically moved between his, as she tried to read the sincerity and believe what he just confessed. "I've been in love with you forever. I don't want to push you away either. Please don't let me," she said sincerely.

Luke smiled and pulled her forward to let her rest on his chin as he placed a kiss to her hair. "I won't. I told you, just listen. I've got this."


	6. Fair Point

**Fair Point**

Penelope goes along on a case, her and Luke have to share a room and the inevitable happens.

Contains smut.

* * *

Thank you for the support. Updates for Summer, Cash, Fog, all coming this week. A When update, and possibly the start of a new fic coming next week.

I wrote a one shot that deals with some of the info about the premier people have been talking about, but my idea is not like anyone else's theories. If I read it again and don't hate it, I will post it too.

* * *

Penelope was cursing herself for not packing different sleepwear. However, she couldn't figure out if she wished she'd brought more prude clothing or more revealing.

Luke materialized from the hotel bathroom, shirtless and dripping wet. Of course. She took a glimpse before she continued to dig through her stuff.

"Bet you're going to have to do a load of laundry before the week is up." Penelope tried to make casual conversation.

"I thought I'd just throw my stuff out." Luke chuckled as he passed her to reach his bed, where he'd left his bag open.

"Hmm, maybe that's best. Since you had to get the stench off of you, at least you don't have to hog the bathroom in the morning."

"Anything to make it more convenient for you." He playfully scoffed. "Who cares if we have to keep getting in the gross mud pit as long as you have more time to make your hair perfect?"

"Precisely." She smiled at him as he shook his head. She disappeared into their shared bathroom, going through her nightly routine and changing into her short shorts and small tank top. She was checking herself in the mirror. He was going to see her without makeup, but her skin was pretty perfect. Her glasses still made her eyes intriguing even without mascara. But her clothes… they weren't sexy, which is how she thought Luke might've seen her one day, and they also weren't conservative which is what would've happened, if she had been _prepared_ to share a room.

Luke propped up on his pillows and flipped through the channels, landing on an eighties movie marathon. When Penelope emerged from the bathroom, he glanced at her casually and then hit the menu button on the remote to pretend to be still scouring for decent entertainment.

"Oooh, I love this movie!" Penelope wailed. She stuffed her belongings in her bag and then set it on the floor. She crawled on top of her bed and perched on the far edge, closest to Luke's bed.

"Not tired either?" he queried.

"We're in the same time zone, and it's only ten," she explained without removing her eyes from the screen. "You of course have the bed the tv points towards," she pouted.

He chuckled. "You picked that bed." He pointed towards hers.

"I just set my stuff down wherever the universe told me to."

"The universe?"

"Yeah, I listen to…"

"Instinct?"

"You say instinct; I say the universe is subliminally sending me messages." She shrugged.

He was watching her watch the movie. "It's against my instinct to be over here." He used the remote to point at the mattress beneath him.

She finally turned toward him. "Why?" She was genuinely curious.

"I should be between you and the door. In case something happened, I would be between you and danger."

He said it so seriously she tried to stifle her giggle. "What if there's a fire? Then I'm further away from safety."

"I'd make sure you were out of the door before me, so if you get stuck, so do I." Luke also stated this seriously but was now watching the screen as well. She examined his profile. They were family now. She had less and less venom towards him. Sometimes she could still manage it, but it was sort of rare nowadays. It didn't fit into the team dynamic as much anymore.

"Who knew that we'd be able to share a room without one of us plotting the other's death? Instead we're talking about not letting each other die." Penelope was squinting at the confusing commercial.

Luke swiveled his head towards her. "Uh, I was never the mean one."

"Meh." She waved a hand at him, indicating it was a moot point.

He sniggered. "Okay, Chica."

"You haven't called me that in a long time. How come?" She curiously awaited his answer.

He tilted his head as he contemplated her. He let his eyes fall to her crossed legs beneath her, smiling at her child-like excitement for a movie. "I don't know." He shrugged. "It's almost like we're more professional with each other now than we were back then."

She stuck her lips out as she contemplated. "You're not wrong. That's a bit odd. Why did we do that?"

" _We_?" He raised an eyebrow at her. "You do still get some licks in when you can. But otherwise, I don't know, it's sort of like you ignore me."

"I don't ignore you. I'm painstakingly aware that you are always around." She scoffed and rolled her eyes. "And when do I get jabs in anymore?" she asked genuinely.

He almost let out a disbelieving laugh. _"Garcia, are your ears burning? My ears are the same temperature as the rest of my body, hot. Oh, wait, that sounds like flirting, I don't flirt with you, it's in my mission statement. What do you want?"_ He finished reciting the conversation from memory and waited for her to respond.

She cleared her throat. "Maybe I let things slip out occasionally," she conceded.

He had a huge smile on his face, and one eyebrow raised as he nodded. "Yeah."

They both laughed. "I guess I'll just sleep on the right side of my bed even though I like the left." She motioned towards the tv that was hardest for her to see from her bed as she grabbed at the sheets.

"Do you want to switch beds?"

"Nah, it's funny that you don't get the bed you want," she said sincerely.

He was silently laughing as he pulled back the covers. "I'm going to sleep on the left side of my bed even though I like the right, just so I can at least be closer to the potential dangers coming from the hallway."

She giggled. "You do whatever your heart desires."

He shook his head. "How did we end up sharing? Please remind me." He settled under the covers as he asked.

"Tara's not here. Emily can't be in a room with a subordinate of the opposite sex, which is sort of archaic. What if she's a lesbian?" Penelope asked seriously as Luke chuckled. "Anyway, JJ is straight and married, so she's not going to share with you smelly boys. Spencer isn't here, which leaves us with Simmons and Rossi. Rossi shares with nobody, except in dire circumstances, like this. It's pretty obvious him and I wouldn't share, so that left him to share with either you or Matt. Matt's also married, so you're the lucky winner of my amazing entertaining self."

"It's worrying that there weren't more rooms available considering that if Tara and Reid were here then we would be sharing beds." He raised his eyes at her, wondering how that would've worked.

"I shared a one bed room with Derek once, but he slept on the floor like the superhero he is." Penelope rolled her eyes. "Small Alaska town, one inn, four rooms, and as I said, Rossi never shares." She giggled.

"Derek should've slept in bed with you? His wife wouldn't have liked that I'm sure."

"He didn't even have a girlfriend at the time." Penelope waved off his comment. "He did it because I had a boyfriend. That was not a fun phone call to make. Kevin was… not pleased, and then the phone signal cut off, and I got to have a long redundant argument when we got back." Penelope rolled her eyes.

"Not to take Kevin's side, but, if you were my girlfriend, I wouldn't want you sleeping next to another guy." Luke informed her sincerely. "I understand why you and I would share. We're the single ones."

Penelope shrugged. "I wouldn't like if the roles were reversed. But Kevin is long gone, and Derek is still my best friend. I'm not sure I wanted my relationship then. If I did, I doubt I would have told Derek to _just freaking get in the bed already_." She let her voice reenact exactly how she'd said it to him in the whiny voice.

Luke almost chuckled, but he couldn't quite manage it. "I hope you broke up soon after that."

"Oh yeah sure, like five minutes later. That, or, ya know, a couple years, give or take.".

Luke laughed. "So, Penelope Garcia cowardly stayed in a relationship? Interesting."

"It was comfortable. He was at work, so he could just come to my office for lunch. Sometimes he'd help on our cases." She shrugged again.

"Wow, it's like a romance novel."

She rolled her eyes. "Why are we discussing this?"

"The beds."

"Only happens in small towns or busy cities. I usually get my own room because you all have your go-tos."

"Matt is a treasure to wake up to." Luke laughed.

Penelope couldn't help but laugh. They stayed silent for a few moments. "Ya know it's stupid that there's a rule about subordinates. I get it, but do they think we're just going to jump each other's bones just because we're in a hotel? I can count thirteen places where we can get it on at the office, so if it's about opportunity…"

Luke laughed. "Thirteen?"

"That's without trying."

He shook his head. "This is a suggestive and intimate setting."

"I guess," she said unconvinced.

"So you and I would've discussed you begging Derek to get in bed and how Kevin felt about it if we weren't here?" He motioned around.

"Ew, I did not beg. I could've broken up with Kevin and slept in Derek's bed every night, even in D.C. He'd have let me."

Luke rolled his eyes. "Okay, but the other part," he prompted.

"I see what you mean, but, still, do they think I've only not offered you a blow job because I've never had the opportunity?" she asked incredulously.

Luke's eyes went wide, but he could barely contain his chuckle. "Not as convenient as this."

"Oh please, we've been out of the office together plenty."

"Sure, but mostly with the team."

"But a couple of times without. I could've gone down on you while you were driving me back home from dropping off Lou. Not incredibly comfortable, I'll admit, but not impossible."

He broke out in laughter. "Garcia, you are…"

"Oh whatever, we're not teenagers. We can say stuff without giggling. Well, most of the time." She giggled. "You could've easily offered me a ride home if you were trying to get in my pants, or, when we have house gatherings at my place, you could've just lingered and been the last one there." She shrugged.

"But there is an extra element at play here. It's not about manoeuvring a situation." He raised an eyebrow at her until she bopped her head side to side "Plus, no one's ever been successful about getting in your pants. You don't own any."

They both laughed. "That proves my point. Look how easy I make it. It's only a matter of fingering me underneath table, don't even have to undress me."

They both laughed harder. "I will keep that in mind. Actually, I'm pretty sure I couldn't forget it."

"Well then…" she said intrigued, "maybe you're not as bland as you… always, always, seem to be." Her eyes lit up as she watched him put his hand over his chest.

"You concede that being in the same hotel room, _much_ more suggestive than group outings?"

She closed one eye. "I don't know about that."

"Really? So you can't acknowledge that right now, we're not even three feet from each other, and you could just crawl over here, and we could fuck, and nobody would even be looking for us for another nine hours? All while we're behind a locked door that no one else has the key to? You're trying to tell me sneaking around at work is as simple as that?"

Penelope cleared her throat and then spoke in a low voice. "Okay, maybe you have two points."

He raised his eyebrow and nodded. "Yeah, I think I do." He was smiling at the fact that he'd made _her_ blush for once.

She stayed silent. "Turn it up. I can't hear it."

"Can't hear over the deafening silence of me being correct."

"Shut up."

They both settled in their sheets. "I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable."

"I'm not. I'm not. It's just unsettling that I agree with you."

"Fair point."

….

All day the only thing Penelope could think about was what Luke had said. He was right. He was less than three feet away. He was less than three feet away, and he was shirtless. He was shirtless in a bed, a bed that was in arm's reach, all night long.

Whenever she wasn't busy, she was thinking about all the different things that could happen if she did choose to crawl into his bed. All the dirty disgusting things she could do, or he could do, she wasn't picky. Luke was attractive, too attractive. It was awful how pretty he was. She always knew this and held him accountable for it, but damn him for reminding her when she was only partially clothed and unable to do anything about her own arousal.

Luke was grateful to be distracted and dirty for the fourteen hour day, mostly spent in another muddy ditch. Except for when his mind would wander to everything Penelope said the night before. Talk about dirty. He'd tried his damnedest not to think about her, not to think about the fact that tonight he'd be in the same predicament as the night before: too close, yet so far away. He wasn't sure if he would trade his right hand to be done with the case today, or if he'd sell his soul to make sure they never had to leave that room again.

When the team arrived back at the station, Penelope and Luke made eye contact and then swiftly averted their gazes. Their four team members caught it right away. The two people who were trying to seem busy didn't see the glances exchanged and the smirks on the others.

"Hey, I'll buy us all dinner. That is if the boss is cutting us loose?" Rossi deferred to Emily.

"Yes, we should rest up, especially if we are doing it all again tomorrow," Emily agreed.

"Can we shower first? Not that I don't love smelling like dirt." JJ grinned.

"Yeah, it would be nice to not have mud in my socks while I eat," Matt agreed.

"No problems, let's all shower quickly, and meet in the restaurant of our hotel in an hour." Rossi agreed. "Kitten, can you make a reservation for us so we don't have to wait."

"Of course. Let me just finish packing up. I can meet you all back there." Penelope was shutting off her computers.

"Nonsense, it will only take you ten minutes to pack up right? Alvez can wait for you." Emily said with a straight face, although she didn't know how.

"Don't you need to shower too?" Penelope asked Luke.

"But you don't, so he doesn't have to worry about sharing the bathroom with anyone," Matt explained.

"Let's head out. We'll see you in an hour." JJ gave the two people a small wave as Matt handed Luke the keys to the other SUV.

"You need me to do anything?" Luke asked Penelope.

"Yeah, stay over there so I don't inhale your stench." She smiled at him.

He smiled back. "The quicker you are, the quicker I can shower. I'll even promise to put on cologne if it motivates you." He almost winced. Was _he_ flirting?

Penelope was reaching over her borrowed desk and unplugging cords. She purposely didn't look up at him. "You usually smell pretty nice, but it couldn't hurt." Wait, was _she_ flirting?

Luke took interest in the file on the desk, pretending to read it, or actually trying to read it but not retaining any of the words. "Did you check the movies for tonight?"

"There's an eighties marathon all week so we're set," she replied. "Or you are, since you've got the good bed." She leaned over her last laptop, waiting for it to shut off.

"I won't bite. You can watch from mine." He took a deep breath, not even sure how he let the invitation slip from his lips. He kept his eyes glued to the page in front of him.

Penelope's eyes widened, but she continued to watch her screen as it faded to black. "I wouldn't want to put you out," she said as casually as she could.

"The bed is big enough for us to both fit while we watch it. Done?" He stood up from his place leaning against the desk.

"Yup, let's go, mud lover." She put her bag over her shoulder, but Luke took the laptop out of her hands to carry it for her.

"I offered to share my bed. Be nice."

"Oh, if I share your bed, it would make me the nicest." She led the way to the exit.

"I don't doubt it," he replied, and she scoffed.

"We've been agreeing a lot this week. It's sort of spooky." She got in the passenger's seat, and he handed her her laptop. "I feel like we only agree when it's something too big for us, like chaos theories and alcoholic beverages. Something out of our control."

"Fair point."

…..

"How can you shower that quickly?" Penelope was laying on her stomach on her bed, playing on her phone while she waited for Luke.

Luke walked past her bed to his. He had taken his jeans into the bathroom but not a shirt. "Old army habit."

"Old Army habit of never wearing a shirt too?" She let her eyes roam over his back as he was digging through his bag.

"It's my way of being nice."

She laughed. "Preemptive payback."

"You're welcome."

He was buttoning his shirt as she got off the bed and headed to the bathroom. Leaving the door open, she called back to him, "I didn't say thank you yet." She grabbed her lip gloss and was applying it in the mirror.

"But I think you will." He followed her in the bathroom and grabbed his cologne out of his toiletry bag.

"You don't actually have to wear cologne." She leaned forward to wipe at the side of her lip.

"Yeah, I don't want them to profile me if I put it on more than I usually do, but a promise is a promise, so I've got to put _some_ on."

Penelope watched as the mist hit the skin on his chest, and then his fingers began to button his shirt. "You're right. No one's going to hug you goodnight, so I doubt they'll get close enough."

"At least you know, right?" He winked at her, and she smiled coquettishly.

"You and I have secrets now? This is getting interesting." She threw her lip gloss into her makeup bag and exited the bathroom right behind him.

"I'll say." He was strapping his watch back on his wrist.

"What does that mean?" She grabbed her wallet, so they could head down to dinner.

"Fuck if I know."

She huffed in agreement. She opened the door, and he followed her in the hallway. "Next thing I know you'll be holding my hand, and we'll have to get everyone to the hospital pronto so they can recover from their heart attacks," she said dryly as she boarded the elevator.

Luke was chuckling. "Wouldn't we have to recover from ours first?"

"You're deductive skills continue to improve."

"I think I'm getting smarter by the day," he agreed.

As they walked towards the hotel restaurant, they saw the team already seated. "Do you think they're discussing us?" she quizzed him.

"They told us an hour and purposely came down fifteen minutes early just so they could compare notes about whether we're doing it."

"You don't actually think they think that, do you? Aren't we all more professional than that?"

"Are we?"

"Fair point." They approached the table. "Hey mis amigos. What's cracka-lackin?" Penelope sat down.

"What is this conversation that appears to be so intriguing?" Luke asked with a playful attitude the team rarely saw from him as he took the seat next to Penelope that was miraculously left for him.

"Nothing. Why are you two in such a good mood?" Emily asked amused as she exchanged glances with the other three members of the team.

Penelope reached out for her water and brought it to her lips. "I don't know for sure, but probably all the sex." She lifted one shoulder as she turned to Luke for confirmation.

"Oh, for sure." He agreed without hesitation.

"The uh -" Matt's eyebrows furrowed as he observed his two friends and then checked with the remaining three people for confirmation that he heard correctly, which he got by everyone's equal look of shock.

Both Luke and Penelope started laughing. "Is that not what you all were discussing without us?" Luke questioned as he grabbed his water.

The four people at the table had the decency to seem at least slightly apologetic. "Okay, just, why are you two always looking at each other like you do? You always look at each other like that." JJ felt exasperated.

"What are you talking about? How do we look at each other?" Penelope questioned.

JJ turned to Rossi who was next to her in disbelief. "Uh okay, I might be one of the grandfathers of profiling, but are you two serious right now? A blind, a-sexual pomegranate could see the way you look at each other." He had his hand on the table, palm up as if trying to grasp the answer.

Both Luke and Penelope turned to each other, and, though they had smiles on their faces, they both were confused, and it showed.

"Oh my God. Never mind. Let's not pretend any of us are good enough to solve that mystery." Emily picked up her water. "Damn having to be the boss. I can't even have a little wine?" She rolled her eyes.

….

"That was interesting," Luke said as he followed Penelope through their hotel room door.

"I'll say. And what do they mean 'look at each other?'" She questioned him as she kicked off her shoes and pulled off her cardigan and walked into the bathroom to change.

"I don't know. How do I look at you?" he called out to her as he went to his own bag.

Penelope left the door open as she brushed her teeth and washed her face. She peeked her head around the corner with just a bra strap showing. "Sometimes you _do_ look at me with, well, I don't know what, but it's not nothing."

Luke had turned to her, but she moved back into the bathroom. "Are you changing?"

"Duh."

"I'll just change out in the open too." He took off his shirt and jeans.

"I'm in the bathroom," she protested.

"With the door open."

"I kept my underwear and bra on." She exited the bathroom.

"So did I, minus the bra." He argued as she crawled in her bed. He blatantly watched her chest jiggle. "You're minus a bra now too."

"I slipped on my tank top and then pulled it off through the arms so…"

"You might as well go topless. That top isn't providing any support." He walked past her bed to the bathroom to brush his teeth.

"Oh please, like you're complaining." She bent over to plug her phone in underneath the nightstand between their two beds.

Luke returned after a minute. "I'd _never_ complain," he agreed. "Your shorts are basically underwear by the way." He threw himself on his bed as she finished her task.

"I usually sleep in underwear so you're actually witnessing me being demure, I think." She sat on the edge of her bed as he grabbed the remote.

"Damn, what the fuck do you wear when you're being seductive?" He found the the movie marathon.

"Wouldn't you like to know?"

"That's why I asked." He turned to her with an eyebrow raised.

"Not shorts that I have to roll the band over just to make them less annoying."

" _That's_ why they look shorter today?"

"I've given up on trying to be aware of your sensibilities."

"Don't ever do that on my account."

"You're very bold today."

"So are you."

"Fair point." She reached over to shut off the lamp and pulled at the covers of her bed.

"You're not watching from over here?" He was adjusting pillows under his head.

"Do you want me to?"

"Do you want to?"

"Are we serious right now?"

"I already put the movie on." He was still watching her as she perched on the edge of her bed, watching him. "Fair warning though, I have already seen the ending so I'm not that interested in it."

Penelope almost smirked. She got up and crawled over his legs to get on his right side. "I get to be closest to the tv, you get to be between me and the door, so I suppose this is a great idea." She got under the covers, facing away from him.

Luke turned down the volume and set the remote on the nightstand. "Perfect plan." He settled onto his side.

They both watched until the commercial break. "Entertain me. The commercials are so long."

"I'm your personal amusement park?"

"Hardly, I've never even ridden you."

Luke laughed and moved his hand under the covers. "I'm supposed to entertain you, right? So tell me when you're fully amused so I can stop."

He let his fingers trail just the hint of skin that was exposed between her tank top and shorts. He moved his hand down to her bare thigh and started rubbing circles.

"You call this entertainment?" She sarcastically tsked, but in reality she could barely keep herself from shaking at the barely there motions. It was sensual yet innocent, and it was driving her wild.

"You call these shorts." He countered and pulled at the waist band and let it pop back onto her skin.

"If you're so offended by them-"

"I am." He used both hands to push the shorts down. She lifted her hip to let him get them to her thighs, and then he pulled them down her legs and tossed them over to her bed.

"Better?" She questioned as she kept her eyes on the tv.

"These barely exist. No wonder those shorts felt so confining." He pulled at the string of her panties and snuck two fingers under it to draw a line on her hip bone.

"So you see my dilemma." She was keeping her voice as even as possible, but she was also squeezing her thighs together, hoping to dull the ache she felt in between her legs.

"No need to continue being uncomfortable for me."

"Very kind of you sir. How can I repay you?"

"You mean I'm not interrupting your movie?"

"What movie?"

Luke smirked and kissed her shoulder. "Penelope, as much fun as this game is, can you tell me what the boundaries are? Because I'm going to be honest with you, I don't think I'm going to remember any of my own in about a minute." He let his lips move to her back and then her neck. "Turn around."

She did, and he leaned in to kiss her. His arms were holding her close, and she brought hers around to circle around his neck. Both of them immediately used their tongues to taste each other and pressed their bodies closely into each other.

"Fuck, what are we doing?" she asked when she pulled away from him to look into his eyes.

He brought one hand to push the hair out of her eyes. "God I wish I knew. All I know is that I feel compelled to touch you. I always have."

"We need to talk about this, but we can't when we're not in our right minds." She leaned in to kiss his chin and then rub her cheek on his beard.

"We don't have to do anything we might regret. It's a choice to let this get away from us." He held her head firmly as she peppered kisses down his throat.

She kissed over his chest. "Yes, that was the perfect spot to put cologne."

"Fuck." He pulled her away when she lightly bit his skin. "So uh, what are the rules?" He started to kiss her neck the same way she had done to him and then down to her chest.

"I think my underwear need to stay on."

He bit lightly into the swell of her breast. "Please god, tell me that doesn't apply to your shirt."

"I don't think I could hold out. I don't have that sort of self discipline." She moved her hands down to pull at her tank.

Luke swatted her hands away. She sat up enough for him to pull it off of her, and he threw it toward her bed as well. "Fuck." He stared at her chest for longer than he knew he should have, but he'd been thinking about those for a long time.

"Earth to Newbie. Not that I mind you staring, but please tell me you're going to play with them because, if not, I might need to go play with myself."

Luke raised an eyebrow at her. "We're going to talk about that later." But he let his mouth and his hands descend upon her breasts at the same time. He placed hungry kisses all over them, using both hands to push them together. He was feeling the weight of them and how they looked when he ran his thumbs over them. "Fuck, your nipples." He let his eyes dart between the very hard points. He moved his hands to her butt as his mouth returned to her breasts. She was tangling her hands in his hair until she disengaged one to come down and feel his chest. He came back up to kiss her again. They both moaned as they kissed, and he dug his nails into her ass.

They both pulled away after a few more moments. "Okay, this is-" Penelope tried to calm her breathing, but both of their chests were heaving.

"Seriously, Penelope, you're going to need to tell me where the line is because right now I want to fuck you six ways to Sunday and then call into work on Monday so I can fuck you some more, and I'm guessing we're not there yet." He took a nipple in his mouth again.

"I know. Although I can't remember why right now." She hissed when he placed a light bite on the swell of her breast.

"I can stick my fingers in you?"

"Yes, please."

Luke immediately put his hands in her underwear. "Fuck! Are you always- fuck." He leaned in to kiss her again as he let his fingers roam over the smooth bare skin. He gently moved over her clit before moving down and finding her entrance with one finger, only to find that she was plenty wet for him to insert two.

"Luke." She dug her nails into his chest as he moved in and out of her. She snuck her hands into his pants, "Fuck, you're so hard."

She pushed his pants down to let him free so she could more easily work on him. She was playing with his balls in one hand and stroking him with the other. "Damn. Penelope, you know you're about to make me come in your hands, right?"

"Luke, you know you're about to make me spasm around your fingers, right?"

They leaned in to kiss again, until her legs started quaking. She started screaming and felt her body jerk forward, so she leaned in to bite at his chest exactly where he had sprayed cologne earlier.

Between her hands working and her scream and the bite, he couldn't hold out any longer. "Penelope, fuck." As they both were trying to regain their breath, neither removed their hands from their places. Luke felt her clamping down on his fingers. "P, are you trying to get me to start up again?"

"Uh, I don't know. My vagina has a mind of its own." But she stopped pulsing, and he removed his fingers, immediately bringing them up to his mouth. "Fuck, don't do that." She bit her lip as he cleaned his fingers. She narrowed her eyes at him as he smirked.

He felt pleased with himself until she smirked back. She brought her hands up to her mouth and started licking them clean. "Penelope, fuck. You need to stop that."

She shrugged and started to lick her other hand. "You didn't listen. Why should I?"

His nostrils flared as he watched her tongue dart out to lick at her perfectly painted nails. "You're going to be the death of me." His eyes never left her mouth as he watched her lap up his spendings.

"Tonight's been an interesting turn of events." She chirped happily as she finished getting the rest of him off her hands.

"Ya don't say."

"Was that your plan?"

"I can't remember." He was massaging her breasts again.

"What's the plan now? Make out until we pass out?"

"You won't hear me objecting." He leaned in to kiss her again as if to prove his point.

"Damn, I don't think I will either."

They were pressing their bodies into each other and kissing and stroking one another, their hands wandering everywhere.

Her center was pressed against him, and his sweats were still lowered to his thighs. "You sure you want to keep these on?" He snapped the string of her underwear, as his hand went to grip her butt again.

"God no, I don't want to, but I'm pretty sure I have to." She was kissing and nipping at his neck and chest.

"Damn this whole passion clouding our judgement shit."

"Yeah, no fuck."

"I like it when you curse." He flipped her to her back and kicked her legs wide as he settled in between them.

"I like it when you do that." She pulsed her hips up towards the erection forming again.

"Happy to oblige." He was feasting on her breasts again as he gently rocked against her.

"Lets make out and dry hump."

"Sure, it's early. Besides I could stay up all night."

She pulsed up again. "Promises."

"I'd be happy to show you, maybe tomorrow night."

"Maybe."

"But tonight I'm going to be feeling you up even in our sleep. You want to move beds? Since what you didn't lick up is in a nice wet spot here."

"Fuck off, I'm not moving. I could bathe in it and not care."

Luke growled. "What in the fuck are you trying to do?"

"Believe me I know I'm playing with fire, but I can't seem to stop."

"You could."

"You don't want me to."

"Fair point."

….

Penelope was certain she was turning pink every time her eyes landed on Luke. This is the part she hated, the part where they could read her like a Dr. Seuss book. At the end of another fourteen hour day, Emily made them quit for the night. JJ suggested dinner again, but Penelope politely declined, citing the need to rest. Luke had wisely kept quiet as he studied the board in the conference room, hoping someone else would bow out as well so it wasn't as obvious. At that moment, he wanted to kiss Matt because, as if reading his mind, he also said he'd rather eat in his room and call Kristy. They split into two vehicles. Matt drove Luke and Penelope in one.

As Matt pulled up to the hotel to park, Penelope hopped out, but Matt stopped Luke before he could follow her. "Dude, yesterday was just speculation, but, if you don't hide your hickeys better, they're going to see them." Matt was serious as he warned his friend.

Luke's eyes widened, and then he started shaking his head, trying to contain his smirk. "How did you see?"

"When you and I were questioning that clerk, and she was hitting on you, you tried to nicely blow her off. You got nervous and scratched at your neck. You put your hand under your collar, and I saw the bite mark on your shoulder." Matt was almost laughing as well.

"Thanks for the warning." Luke chuckled.

"Sure, of course." They both put their hands on the door handles. "Are you two…"

"We haven't exactly figured that out yet." Luke held up his hand, stopping Matt from giving him a lecture. "We both know we need to. We just haven't had the time."

"Uh, no offense, Luke, but you two are in a room all night by yourselves. I understand talking might not be as fun as…"

Luke tried not to laugh, "Yeah, got it. Really, I, uh, yeah." He was certain that if his skin was lighter it would be evident that he was blushing.

…..

Luke walked into their shared room. "So, Matt saw my bite mark."

Penelope was sitting on the edge of the bed and looked up from her phone. "Well, fuck."

Luke raised his eyes in amusement. "So we need to discuss this now. Firstly because Matt's too much of a dad not to ask me again tomorrow, and secondly because we really should talk about our expectations."

"You mean besides orgasming." She giggled.

Luke growled at her. "Penelope."

"Right, and this is why we didn't fuck last night. Now I remember."

Luke chuckled. "Look P, I'm not sure if this has been something we should've seen coming or…I don't want to make you date me just because we felt each other up."

"It's not supposed to be a punishment, Luke."

"Either we stop this in its tracks, or we have to be honest with each other and give this a shot."

"We are only going to get more invested, and, if it goes to shit…

"I get my ass handed to me by everyone and kicked out of the BAU even if it's your fault? Yeah, I'm aware of the consequences." He nodded with a smile on his face as if he knew it was the truth, but he couldn't fathom why he would care. Penelope kicked off her shoes and started unzipping her dress as she walked to the bathroom. Luke watched her go. "So is that it then?"

"We're going to date, and agree not to date other people… Uh, are you my boyfriend, or are we just _dating_?"

He followed her into the bathroom, unbuttoning his shirt. "That's what I'm saying. We're exclusive, but are we in a relationship, or are we just giving this a chance to become a relationship?"

"Sort of both. Once we come to terms that we didn't just decide one night to feel each other up, then we can easily just step over that line, right?" She had discarded her dress already and put on her tank top but left the underwear on.

"Sounds good to me," he said slowly as he watched her butt as she leaned over the counter to wipe her makeup off.

"You'd think I'd need more time to get used to you staring at my ass, but it seems sort of normal." She shrugged.

Luke laughed as he threw his shirt in the corner and came to press his chest against her back, "Good, then I don't have to tell you to get used to it. Why is this on?" He snapped the bra strap.

"Habit. I think I forgot that you've already seen them." She picked up her toothbrush, and he did the same, but, as soon as he was done, his hands went underneath her tank top and unclasped her bra as she was putting her makeup bag away.

Luke pulled the straps down her shoulders and she helped him by pulling it off her arms, tossing it near his shirt in the corner. "Why did you even bother to put the tank top on? I was not going to let you keep clothes on. You must've known that."

"You still have pants on,"

"I'm taking them off, and I'm not putting sweatpants on." He tossed his pants to the corner and stood in front of her in only his underwear. "Are we going to have sex or more fooling around? Because I'd rather do you in bed the first time, but, if you're going to at least let me go down on you, then I'm going to do that right now." He started kissing her shoulder.

"Oh yeah, then we aren't having sex so better get started." She kissed at his chest and playfully pretended to push him to his knees.

He laughed. "I'll be plenty happy to do both in whatever order you'd prefer."

"Great, let's have sex and then maybe we can go down on each other." She said it so casually it made him take a step back.

"Alright then." He grabbed her hand and led her to the bed. "We are being very straightforward about all of this." He immediately brought the tank top over her head. He threw it on the ground and started playing with her breasts, fondling them and kissing them. He pushed her down to the bed. She used her elbows to move backwards as he crawled over her, following her to the middle of the bed. "I'm going to be inside of you."

"I'm looking forward to it." She leaned up to kiss him.

"All day I was thinking about how you licked my come off your hands. I was in disbelief."

"Understandable. Most of the day I was thinking about how you piss me off because you can't type for shit, but somehow I'm a big fan of your fingers when they're inside me."

"Fair point."

"We're going to have sex. Luke and Penelope are going to have sex. Think about it."

"Yeah, P. That's all I think about."

"Let's do this." Penelope reached down to push at his underwear, letting his erection free.

"No objections. Foreplay?"

"Next time."

"Condom?"

"I hate condoms."

"That's not an answer."

She sighed. "Fine, we should probably use one."

"Uh, what was that?"

"Nothing, it's my own thing. I am all but sterile, but it's not a sure thing so obviously-"

"P, we don't have to."

"Seriously? You just heard me say I can't guarantee-"

"I heard, but you're not worried, right?"

"I'm past the prime baby time, so I'm even less worried with each passing day," she said seriously as she nipped at the skin on his chest.

"Great, let's fuck then."

"Fuck, I like you even more now." She leaned up to kiss him. "Naked, now."

Luke pulled back and pushed off his underwear and then gripped the strings of hers and pulled them down her legs. He stared at her center, and she stared at his cock.

"P, I'm going to come inside of you. Think about that."

"That's all I can think about. C'mon, get inside me. Do it slowly, and watch."

"Yes ma'am." He gripped her thighs and pushed her legs wide. Then he used his fingers to spread her open and his other hand to guide himself into her, all while watching as she instructed him to, only taking his eyes off of her when he was a couple inches in so he could watch her face. She reached out to his forearms, and her nails dug in to them as he slowly pushed in the rest of the way.

Luke glanced down at where he was fully seated within her and then to her nails digging in his skin and back to her face that was flushed and staring back at him. "Fuck me, Luke." She told him as she watched him.

His eyes darkened, and he maintained eye contact as he started rolling his hips. "Damn, why is this so good already?"

"I have no idea, but I can honestly say I've never done something like this before. I mean, not _like_ this."

"You mean with someone you're friends with and have flirted with forever and then openly and honestly started a sexual relationship with. Yeah, me either." He gripped her thigh and pushed her leg back. "Fuck." He slowed his thrusts and looked back to their joining, "You hear yourself, right? You hear how wet you are."

"Yes, and I'm about to come all over your dick, so get ready for me to be dripping."

Luke growled. "Why can your words make me want to - damn it, P, the mouth on you."

"You've never even come in my mouth yet, so how would you know?"

He stopped pulsing to stare at her incredulously. "I just realized how much I've always wanted you. I'm pretty sure I've imagined you saying just that."

"Deja vu?"

"I'd live this moment until I died." He let her leg down and came to loom over her.

Luke took her nipple in his mouth and then moved to the other one before coming back to kiss her. She put her hands around him, and, as he pulsed more forcefully, she scratched up his back and then let her hands come to his butt to keep him in his spot where she could feel it building. "Luke, I'm going to-"

"Yeah, you are. A lot. I'm going to come with you the first time." He watched her face as he felt her nails mark his skin. "Come for me, P." Penelope bit her lip, and then her back arched off the bed. Luke watched her face as his name fell from her lips and then fixated on her breasts as they shook, and he let himself go, feeling himself shoot inside of her. He lost his breath, and so did she. He fell to his forearms as they both tried to recover. "We just came on each other." He leaned in to kiss down her neck.

"Let's do that all the time. Let's never stop doing that."

"You won't hear me complain." He peppered kisses along her collar bone.

Penelope pulled him by the hair to kiss her again. "What do you want now? Or more like how many times do you think we can go at it?"

"Penelope, I'm certain I can get hard for you just about any time you ask."

"Good to know. Want to shower?"

"If we shower now, we don't have to shower in the morning."

"Exactly, and we can taste each other, but this time from the source."

Luke chuckled, "You're - I think I love everything that comes out of your mouth. Everything."

She smirked. "Let's hope I love everything going in."

….

The knock on the door woke Luke slowly. Normally he'd have jumped up, but he was groggy. He disengaged himself from Penelope and grabbed his sweats that he'd never bothered with the night before. He sleepily opened the door just as there was another knock.

"Ugh great, so you're not done with your shower then?" Emily was annoyed, and JJ seemed equally so.

Luke attempted to blink to adjust to the light coming in from the hallway. Their room had been shrouded in darkness thanks to the heavy curtains. "Uh what?" Luke asked the four people in front of him in their sleep attire.

"The pipes on the West side of the building are turned off because some kid flushed toys. We were hoping, since you're an early riser, we could use yours, and Penelope could just come in late." Emily was already _so_ _over_ this morning, and she had only woken up twenty minutes ago.

"Sure. We showered last night which is why we were sleeping in." Luke explained with a yawn.

Matt was smiling from behind the other three, waiting for someone to say something. JJ squinted at Luke's chest. "Are those bite marks?" They had all been distracted by the predicament of the morning. She blinked again trying to confirm her observation.

Rossi smirked. "So you showered together then?"

Luke rolled his eyes. "Do you people want to use the shower or not?"

"Sorry, sorry." JJ was trying to keep from laughing.

"Make yourselves at home, but I'm going to lay back down." Luke turned and let Emily catch the door. He hit the switch for the lamp so they weren't in the dark and then lifted the covers on the bed he shared with Penelope. He plastered his chest to her back and made sure the blankets were over both of them so they were one big lump of down comforter, minus their heads almost peeking out.

The four agents walked in and set their stuff on the bed that was completely made up, not a pillow out of place as they all smirked at each other. "So, I guess, it _was_ the sex that made you happy?" Rossi raised his eyebrows at the others who were stifling laughs.

"God, can't you people shut up? We only went to bed an hour ago." Penelope moaned, but all that did was make the other four occupants laugh harder.

"Can you two at least keep a lid on it while we're here?" Emily joked.

"Not promising that," Penelope said quite clearly.

"Seriously? I was joking," Emily stated.

"I wasn't," Penelope stated. She felt Luke chuckle behind her.

"Oh God! JJ go, and I'll shower while you dress." Emily instructed. JJ saluted her and then went into the bathroom quickly.

"Turn the tv on to drown out the sound," Rossi joked, but he nodded at Matt to round the bed and retrieve the remote since he wasn't planning on getting any closer to the couple.

Luke and Penelope were not going to get any sleep nor could they get up and dressed, especially since she was still very naked underneath the covers. Luke decided to take full advantage of that and moved his hands up to her boobs to massage them, purposely keeping his movements shallow so as to not be detected.

Matt turned on the tv, and Emily sat at the edge of the unoccupied bed. "I feel a lot better about gossiping about you two now."

"Here to help," Luke chimed in. He let one hand travel down Penelope's torso to her center and playfully ran a finger over her clit and then inside of her before bringing his hand back to her breast.

The other three people chuckled. "Took you two long enough," Rossi commented.

"What does that mean?" Penelope's sleepy voice asked as she let her hands go behind her back to push Luke's sweats down and stroke him.

"It means you two took long enough. The first day I was back, JJ told me it was going to happen. I've been waiting two years," Emily explained as she raised an eyebrow at the two men in front of her.

"We apologize for not doing this sooner. No, but like, we're really sorry." Penelope stated adamantly, which made everyone, including Luke, laugh.

Emily heard the shower turn off, so she grabbed her clothes and headed to the bathroom, tapping lightly and then entering.

"You know I've always hated the fraternization rules, but I at least understand them now," Rossi casually commented to Matt.

"You're the reason those rules exist," JJ countered as she emerged from the bathroom, drying her hair with a towel.

"Exactly," Penelope agreed. "Also, every single one of us has broken those rules, except these two." Penelope tilted her head, which no one could really see but they knew she meant Matt and Luke.

"Now it's just me." Matt smiled as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"You're the purest of us all," Penelope said genuinely.

"And you have four kids so imagine that," Rossi commented.

Emily emerged from the bathroom. "The sheriff is sending one of his deputies to come get us since we're going to be behind if we wait for everyone to be ready. JJ and I will go with him. Matt, Dave, take the other car and then Luke and Penelope can take the last one. Please don't have sex in there," Emily said in her straightforward tone.

"Again, no promises," Penelope said.

Emily and JJ playfully rolled their eyes and exited the room as Rossi went to the shower. Matt was left in the room with the two frisky people. "Uh, I realize I'm the most understanding, but it's very clear you are feeling each other up."

"We're very sorry," Penelope apologized, but she didn't stop her movements.

"Don't tell me you weren't rooting for this to happen," Luke said.

Matt sat on the edge of the bed where Emily had been and shrugged. "Fair point."

* * *

A few of us are in a new Garvez chat group on Twitter, if you're interested in joining, please let me know!


	7. If She's Hurt

**If She's Hurt**

I know there are a lot of rumors flying about Lisa being in the premier. I heard about it and decided to have my own take. Not as fantastical as her being in the cult, but still we get rid of her.

No warnings for this. I managed to write something rated T! Go me!

I'm finally moved in to my new place. Sweating like a dog, but I managed!

Thanks for all the support!

* * *

Penelope was safe. Penelope was safe. Penelope was safe. That's what Luke kept repeating to himself as he sat in a chair in the corner of the beige room. His leg was bouncing up and down and he kept fidgeting. He readjusted in the seat multiple times but couldn't seem to find a comfortable way to sit. Penelope adjusted in her bed, her eyes were still closed and he had to stare at the beeping machine for a few minutes until he convinced himself that it was indeed her heart that made it make the consistent noise. He screwed his eyes shut again, he felt idiotic still being so wound up. He knew she was here, right in front of him. She was going to be fine. But he hadn't had the chance to talk to her. At least she was getting some much needed rest.

The team had stayed for a while but once the word had come through that she was fine and needed rest they had decided on a rotation schedule to be by her side. Luke told them all to leave, he would take the first shift. Everybody was tired and needed to get back to their loved ones. But the woman he was dating was already here at the hospital, so why would he leave? In truth, he wasn't going to leave anyway even if there was no excuse.

Knowing Penelope was in danger, knowing it could've ended up even worse, knowing that this was actually an incredibly odd thing to have happen, and yet it was the scariest thing he'd ever known. Worse than the feeling of wondering if his unit was coming back for him when he was behind enemy lines. Worse than anytime he was shot at. Even worse than when Phil had been - Someone was standing right in front of him and he hadn't noticed because his face was buried in his hands. His ears heard the last click of the shoes and his eyes travelled from the floor, past the chart in her arms up to the woman's face, "Are you okay?"

Luke cleared his throat, "Yeah, it was an extremely tough day at work." His voice indicated his exhaustion.

"I understand, but a lot of your days are tough aren't they? Everyone is safe. I figured this is one of the better outcomes." She inched closer to him.

Luke pushed off the arms of the chair, "Right, yeah, it's good that everyone is safe." His eyes flitted towards the bed.

Lisa's gaze followed his, she turned back to him and narrowed her eyes, "Do you-"

"Doctor, they need you on four for a consult." The nurse had seen her enter this room and decided to let her know instead of paging her.

"I'll be right there." Lisa smiled at the other woman then turned back to Luke, "After I'm done with this I'll bring you a coffee."

Luke nodded, "Sure." He watched her leave. He took a deep breath, he didn't need coffee, he wasn't sure he'd ever sleep again as it was. Sitting back in the seat that he decided was going to be his home for a couple of days, he tried to adjust and get comfortable. He readjusted and fidgeted again for at least ten minutes. The thoughts occupying his mind were trying to get out of his body through movement so he got up and started pacing. He paced for at least another ten minutes until he heard a voice.

"Alvez, you don't workout enough as it is?" Penelope's groggy voice questioned him.

Luke froze, he saw that her eyes were barely open but somehow she managed to give him an incredulous glare anyway, "I'm sorry, Garcia. I guess it was just all so adrenaline inducing." He cleared his throat and stepped towards the bed so he was at her side, he set his hand on the bed near her, "Garcia, Penelope, I'm glad you're okay."

"Hey, me too." She groaned a little as she adjusted herself on the bed.

"Here, do you need-"

"No, no. I'm fine. I'm barely awake. I just felt you moving, I think."

"I'm sorry, I can go. I just wanted to be here to-" He wasn't sure he knew what he needed to be there for.

"It's fine. Please stay." Her weak fingertips lightly patted his, sitting there on her bed. "But I'm afraid I won't be much of a host." Her eyes shut again and her face fell sideways as sleep over took her once more.

"That's okay." Luke whispered. Her fingers had fallen from the back of his, he stared at her hand for a moment, then he realized he felt more calm now. Maybe it was hearing her for himself or maybe it was the proximity. Luke decided to move the beige chair to her bedside. He adjusted it multiple times, until he was close enough to let both forearms rest near her side. Penelope's fingers were still there, lightly curled into a loose fist. He hesitated a few times then he decided that he'd hold her hand. A deep breath escaped his lips and he realized he felt like he'd been holding his breath since he heard she was in trouble. He sighed again and let his forehead rest on his forearm.

"Luke. Uh, Luke?" JJ softly said his name again.

Luke groggily sat up, "Oh, JJ. Hey. I must've fallen asleep. What time is it?"

"Not quite time for shift change. I came an hour early. I couldn't resist." JJ smiled at him sweetly. "So she did okay through the night then?"

"She only woke up once." Luke explained as he used one hand to rub the sleep from his eyes. When he reached over to his opposite eye he felt like the movement was awkward, that's when he realized his other hand was still firmly in Penelope's. He swiftly but cautiously pulled it away. As he rubbed quickly at his eye, he chanced a glance at JJ who had turned her gaze to the floor and rounded the bed to the other side. "Uh, she was groggy but she really hasn't moved around much."

"That's good. Restless sleep is not what she needs. I'm sure the meds have helped with that." JJ set down the knitting she brought for Penelope. She figured she'd get bored if they decided to keep her here long. "You should go get some sleep. I'm fine. I zonked out as soon as I got home. I'm ready for my shift." They were both still speaking softly.

"I'm okay. Really. I slept a lot and uh, Lisa was going to bring me coffee -" he glanced at his watch, "hours ago - and yeah, I can stay too."

JJ nodded with a tight smile on her face, "Okay." She came around the bed again to stand behind him. The window blind was down, so she peeked through the corner of it. Out of the corner of her eye she watched Luke run his fingers over a cut Penelope had on her wrist that led to her finger.

JJ cleared her throat lightly, "Good thing they didn't mess up her digits. She'd be in here wide awake, wondering what to do if she couldn't try out her new keyboard."

Luke smiled but didn't turn to JJ as he spoke, "Very true." He made sure his fingers were no longer touching hers. He set them on the edge of the bed but as soon as he felt like he couldn't touch her anymore, the restlessness crept up again. He began tapping the tips of his fingers lightly, as if playing a piano, but with no particular melody. Then he remembered she felt his movement before so he ceased his movements but then he tensed his hands.

JJ smiled but shook her head, she leaned against the low sill of the window, resting her butt there for stability, "Alvez?"

"Yeah?"

"You shouldn't be here when she wakes up again."

Luke's head spun quickly to JJ who was trying to smile kindly but also seemed a little reserved. "Why not?" His brow furrowed.

JJ shook her head, her hands came up to tuck her hair behind her ears on either side. She paused a moment, before looking into his eyes so he knew she meant no harm but was also serious. "Luke, whatever is making you feel like you need to be here, that feeling, Penelope has probably felt it too. And," JJ shifted the weight from foot to foot making her hips adjust against the wall, "the last thing she needs to do is pretend to be okay when she's trying to get better." JJ let her eyes fall to the ground and then back to his as she nodded.

Luke narrowed his eyes at her, "I don't get what you mean."

JJ nodded again as her head moved back, she tried to figure out how else to say this without saying anything, "Luke, you feel the need to be here. You're worried about her, you have a compulsion to stay at her bedside."

"I would be worried about any of the team."

"Yeah I know. I know. But would you have stayed at my bedside all night?" JJ tried to smile at him but she also tilted her head at him, hoping Luke would get the message.

"Well, no. Will would be-"

"Yeah, sure. So Emily then? Or Rossi?" JJ clenched her teeth as she watched the feelings move over Luke's face. "Luke, all I'm saying is you feel the need to be there for her, that is wonderful. She'll enjoy the support from all of us and she'll need it. But, she doesn't need - if she wakes up with you holding her hand, her heart might jump a little bit. If you are just here with the rest of us as a support then you don't have the chance to make that happen in the same way." JJ shook her head again, "C'mon Luke, just-it's fine. You've done nothing wrong, but, let's keep it that way. Penelope doesn't need to wake up and see your girlfriend bringing you coffee."

Luke finally turned his body towards JJ as he held a hand up momentarily then set it back at his side as he shook his own head, "JJ, that's not what this is."

"Okay. I understand. So then, you should let me take my shift." She pushed off the wall so she was standing upright as well, "If that's not what this is, then you need to let us take our shifts that we agreed on. And whenever she's awake, asleep, or otherwise whoever happens to be here is here."

"I was just worried and I-"

"Luke, c'mon." JJ plead with her eyes for him to not do this. "You want to be here. It'll make you feel better but it wont make her, not once the moment has passed."

Luke cleared his throat and turned back to Penelope who was still soundly sleeping, his eyes travelled down to her hand still in the spot he'd left it. He nodded, and turned back to JJ, "Okay. I'll go home then." His feet carried him slowly towards the door but the closer he got to it the heavier his legs felt. He stopped and spun around, he came back towards JJ so that they could maintain their quiet conversation, "Why do I feel like I need to stay?"

JJ smiled, with a sigh, she sat down in the chair he'd abandoned, "I think you know the answer to that. But, if there is nothing more to it, then you need to keep it that way."

"What do you mean nothing more to it?"

"Okay, just tell me, what were you thinking when we were driving to go rescue her? Just," she shrugged nonchalantly, "what went through your head?"

Luke shook himself, and both hands came up to his hair, he roughly rubbed them across his head and back again in frustration, "I just kept thinking; _if she's hurt, what would I do? If she's hurt then who will take her place?_ Not at work but in life. Who will be Penelope? And I couldn't figure out what I would do if that happened."

JJ nodded, "Yes, and while I know you'd miss me terribly, your thoughts would have been about logistics, tactical approaches, the profile of these cult members. You care about her in a different way than you care about us. There is nothing wrong with that but it's not ridiculous to think she does too. And if you two are just friends and colleagues then you shouldn't make that more complicated."

Luke scoffed and shook his head, he paced just a foot forward and then back, "JJ, I - that's -"

"Incredibly accurate? Don't dig in deeper if you don't mean to plant anything. It will only leave an empty, extremely useless, hole." JJ watched his eyes become downcast and his hands clench and unclench. "Maybe you should go get your girlfriend a coffee instead. She's probably busy."

Luke nodded and walked out of the room. He still didn't go far, just to the end of the hall. He had chosen to pace in the waiting area there, instead of in Penelope's room.

Lisa walked up to him with a resigned smile on her face, "Hey, Luke. Here," she handed him a small cardboard cup.

"Thanks," he set it on the small end table nearby and kept pacing.

Lisa watched him for a few moments before she got agitated, "Luke, is that true?" Luke's head shot up to decipher what she meant, "Is that what went through your mind when you went to save Penelope?" Lisa's eyes were genuine as she scanned his, looking for the answer there.

Luke scoffed and his gaze went to the ceiling, he bit his bottom lip in frustration before speaking, "Yeah, Leese, it is."

Lisa nodded, "It's a good thing we were too busy to make this a serious relationship." Her attempt at a smile was weak, she held back a couple of tears, "Look, I gotta go. I have another patient. I'll come by to get my stuff, or you can throw it in a box or something." She spun around.

"What does that - this isn't anything - it's not-" Luke didn't have the words, at least, not the right ones.

Lisa turned to him again, "C'mon, Luke. Even I'm not surprised you're still here for her." Lisa scoffed and turned to retreat again.

Luke stayed rooted to his spot, he threw his hands out to the sides, he didn't want to think about this right now, "Lisa, it's not-"

Lisa turned to him as she walked backwards, "If your plan was to stay here and not follow me, then it sort of is." She turned again and hustled away, disappearing down the hall.

Luke watched her go, but even after her words, he didn't move an inch, "Damn it." He sat back in a chair, his elbows resting on his knees, his head in his hands.

"So, are you going to go get her? Or are you going to go get _her_?" Rossi's cool tone and small smirk made Luke roll his eyes.

"I didn't mean anything by it. I just-" Luke shook his head. "What am I supposed to do Rossi? What could possibly be the solution?"

"That's just it, kid. It's not a solution you're after. Feelings are complicated and nuanced. But it's been awhile and quite frankly, I'm bored of the will they won't they. So either, do or don't. And if you don't, yes, I'll think you're an idiot but I will also tell you, you need to make sure to keep things more platonic. Penelope tries and fails sometimes too but she's been better lately. You having a girlfriend helped with that." Rossi stated dryly.

Luke crossed his arms over his chest and sat back against the polyester chair, "I didn't mean to-" he sighed in frustration, "I didn't mean not to either though."

"Exactly." Rossi clicked his tongue. "Now I'm going to go see the best and only tech goddess I know. And you _don't_ have to follow me. You have to choose to walk on your own." Rossi ambled away.

Luke was pinching the bridge of his nose as he sat still. He set his arms down then crossed them again. Then he got up to pace, he felt fidgety and his nerves were jumping as if he'd already had a gallon of coffee.

The trees blowing made his gaze move towards the window, he turned to stare outside but that was when he saw the coffee cup sitting alone on the table. The liquid had chilled and the color of it seemed dull. He took a deep breath, realizing that without any coffee at all he was ready to jump out of his skin, just because his eyes weren't on Penelope. He didn't know if she was okay because he couldn't see her. If he needed to see her so badly that could only mean one thing, "Damn it." He shook his head. He grabbed the cup and threw it in the garbage. "She's definitely the only thing that could make me this restive before I've even had caffeine."

* * *

I would love to know what you think of this one. I just sort of blurted it out without any planning.

Thanks, everyone!


	8. Fade Away

**Fade Away**

Penelope gets engaged and Luke realizes that he's loved her all along. He knows she's happy so he decides he should try and hide his feelings from her but that goes about as well as expected. Penelope then has to figure out how to choose between two very different lives.

Warning: contains smut but it's more tame than my usual stuff

* * *

Penelope had a smile on her face as she was walking towards the conference room. Dax just text her, he was going to be late from his meeting but he wasn't going to miss their wedding shower.

It was a chance for them to celebrate what would happen in just two short months. She would officially be married to a man that truly loved her. He was upstanding, had integrity and he saw her for what she was and loved her for everything that she had become.

Penelope entered the conference room, everyone greeted her with huge smiles on their faces. "Don't we all look spiffy? Thank you for doing this for me." Derek and Savannah had flown in for the first of her wedding related events.

Emily tilted her head, "Of course PG. We need a pre-party to get ready for this wedding."

"I guess it's good practice," she giggled. "Dax's meeting ran late so he'll meet us there."

"Should we get going?" Tara asked.

"We're still missing Luke and Lisa." Penelope furrowed her brow when she saw everybody exchanging glances. "Is something wrong?"

JJ smiled sympathetically, "They're not going to be able to make it."

"I just saw him go in the locker room."

Derek sighed, "Yeah Sweetness but he can't make it tonight."

Rossi wanted to take the responsibility of explaining to her, "Alvez is considering resigning." He knew it was vague but he didn't think she needed to deal with it right now.

She settled into one hip putting a hand on her other, "What? He would tell me if he was going to do that. Even if he was, why wouldn't he be able to come tonight? That makes no sense." She couldn't fathom why he would leave. It was the only place that gave him any peace, which was hilarious to her because it took so much from everybody else.

Matt raised his eyes at Emily in question. He loved Luke like a brother, he also loved Penelope like a sister. He watched Emily tip her head slightly, "Luke and Lisa broke up. It might not be the best thing for him to celebrate someone else's happiness." It wasn't a lie.

She gave a slight nod but they knew she wasn't buying it. She glanced over her shoulder and saw Luke at the elevators. She turned back to the team that was cautiously looking at each other. She rolled her eyes and stomped away as quickly as she could through the bullpen.

Penelope put her hand up to hold the door of the elevator, "Luke, why aren't you coming?"

Luke gripped the strap of his backpack that was slung over one shoulder but it felt heavier than anything he ever carried before, "I just can't. I'm sorry for creating any problem."

"If you're sad then you should be with us. You shouldn't go home to wallow with a broken heart."

He shook his head, "That's exactly what I need to do. It's what I needed to do for a long time."

"When did you break up?"

"Recently, but this mistake started years ago. I messed up, I need to deal with it. I'm sorry I can't celebrate tonight but know, there's nothing I want more in this world than for you to be happy."

She let her eyes close in frustration, "I don't understand, Luke. I need you there." Watching Luke trying to walk away, she knew the most important person that could be there, other than Dax, wasn't going to be. He had become her most important friend, she wasn't even sure why. They didn't seem that close from the outside looking in but she felt him in her chest. "Why, why?"

He saw the emotion welling up in her eyes. He cursed himself, this is exactly what he didn't want, "Penelope, you have twenty people in that room. I'm one person, you don't need me."

Her brow furrowed again, "Luke, I'm sorry your heart is broken but I promise I won't do any lovey-dovey crap tonight. Please come."

"Don't do anything because of me. I promise that if you ever need me, I'll be there. All you have to do is call, I will come running, but you don't need me for this, so please just let me go." He knew if she didn't, he would stay. He knew damn well that he would sit at that dinner, feeling his heart break every time she smiled her perfect smile at Dax.

Though she might have him in the back of her mind, he would fall to the wayside as she enjoyed her night. She could just assume that his broken heart was about the woman he just dumped, but that woman never got a piece of his heart. You can't break something you never touched.

Penelope was trying to hold back tears. He gave her a sad smile, he loved that she was emotional. She was okay being vulnerable with people she trusted. She trusted him more than he ever deserved because all he had ever done was lie to her.

"Why would you resign? You love it here. Don't you?" She asked so genuinely.

"I do love it here. But I don't think it's the place for me anymore." He decided to tell her a small lie, maybe it wasn't, all he was going to do was think about this. "I'm taking the weekend. Maybe on Monday, I'll have a different perspective." She probably thought that he was momentarily emotional. If that's what she needed to believe, that's what he would give her.

Her cell phone started ringing in her hand. Dax's name displayed across the screen. She was going to excuse herself for a moment and tell Luke not to go anywhere but he was already pushing the button in the elevator, "Have a good night."

She glanced at her phone and then to him. She watched his face until the door shut, she took a deep breath before answering her phone.

She walked towards the conference room slowly. She felt like she was in a daze, trying to sort out what was happening. The group gave her sad smiles. "Dax is on his way."

They recounted old times as they waited until she noticed Lisa quietly at the door. A smile came to her face as she walked over to her, "I'm glad you're here. I thought -" Penelope didn't really know what to say.

Lisa handed her a small square package, "I had this gift for you already, but I won't be attending the wedding. I'm really happy for you, I hope you have a good day."

Penelope smiled, "You can still come, there's no reason you can't."

"I really can't. Please don't ask again because if you do," she chuckled, "I'll probably give in."

"Are you coming tonight?" She innocently gestured to Lisa's beautiful dress.

"I just wanted to drop this off. I'm on my way to a benefit dinner for the hospital."

Penelope nodded, "Okay. Sorry that you're both - I don't understand. I'm sorry."

Lisa glanced at the people averting their eyes to attempt to give them some privacy. "It's okay, I've had a broken heart before. Since it's one-sided it's probably not going to last as long."

"Luke was upset-" She stopped when Lisa held up her hand.

"You really don't understand do you?"

"I'm sorry." Penelope couldn't help because she didn't know what was wrong.

Lisa scoffed, she was in love with someone who was in love with someone else and that somebody was so sweetly clueless. Lisa sighed and brought her hand to her forehead, quickly patting the fingertips there, then grabbing Penelope's hand. "Maybe it's better if you don't. I can't make that choice for you but I hope you're happy." Lisa felt one tear slip down her cheek. She gave Penelope a hug, "I really have to go now." She gave a small wave to the room.

Penelope watched Lisa through the glass of the conference room. As the elevator opened, Dax walked through. He and Lisa quickly hugged. She must've told him that she wasn't coming because he put his hand on her arm to stop her. But then he gave her a nod and big smile before escorting her the few feet to the elevator. Penelope vowed to figure out what Lisa meant.

….

Sunday was here, Penelope was meeting Tara and JJ in a couple hours at a wedding that her wedding planner organized and see if she wanted the same setup.

Penelope decided to drive to Luke's house and try to get answers before meeting the girls. All she knew right now was that she couldn't lose him from the team. They still had bad cases but for some reason, they never hurt as much now. He was always there to comfort her and she took solace in that. When Spencer was in jail she couldn't bear it but Luke made it bearable. He was the one that comforted her. Even though she had been on the team for a longer time without him as a member than the contrary, she wouldn't survive without him anymore. Before he came along she didn't know how much things hurt but now she knew what it was like to not feel scared all the time and it was because of him. She had to make sure he knew she needed him there.

Penelope knocked and as soon as he answered, "I don't understand, just tell me what's wrong."

He sighed, "No, Penelope. You don't want to know."

"I just asked."

"Are you excited to get married in a couple months?"

"What? Yes, of course."

"You don't want to know. I'm telling you to leave it alone. Please."

She turned to leave but she angrily whirled back, "No. Luke Alvez, you tell me what's wrong. I know this is a weird friendship but I thought I knew you. Now, I feel like I don't know you at all. It's confusing and it hurts and I don't know why. So please just tell me why you're running away. I don't understand, make me understand." Her tears started falling, "Why would you just leave?"

"Penelope, I can't make the mistake of telling you why I need to leave. It doesn't mean we weren't friends. You're the only one that I never thought I would walk away from. Nothing I can tell you is going to make you feel better. I'm already too broken right now. I can't hurt you. Don't make me."

From the beginning, this man could piss her off. He could say the most annoying things. The most maddening things would fall from his lips and make her crazy and he never ceased to do so in the five years that she had known him. "No, Luke. I'm not going to let you destroy your life because you have a broken heart. It can't hurt this bad to have lost her."

He ran his hand over his face, "That's just it Penelope, it doesn't hurt much at all. I have a broken heart but I did it to myself and it has less than nothing to do with her."

"What does that mean, Luke?"

"I'm sorry I can't give you a simple answer. I'm sorry I didn't confide in you. I've made my bed and I have to lay in it. It'll destroy me if I destroy you."

"How could you destroy me by telling me why you want to quit? What am I missing?" she wiped a tear coming down her face. She never thought it would be him that did this to her. "You can't push me away like this and tell me you're doing it not to hurt me because it feels a hell of a lot like pain. Please just-."

Tears weren't falling, but the liquid pooled at the bottom of his eyes. He couldn't do this to her, if he confessed, it would hurt her. It's the whole reason he was walking away rather than fighting for her. She was worth it, he'd fight for her to the end of time if he thought it would make her happy. If he fought for her now all it would do is bring her torment. "I want to tell you. I feel like I _need_ to tell you but it would be selfish. I can't do that again."

"Confiding in your friend is not selfish. Walking away and hurting somebody is selfish."

Luke shook his head, she was trying to do everything to leave him no choice. If she never got an explanation, maybe that in itself would break her heart but it wouldn't really break her heart. "It just hurts too damn much so let me live with my mistake."

"I can't do that not as a friend," she sighed, "not even as a coworker. I can't just let you live with a mistake and let you make more. So Luke," she pushed past him gently and stood face to face in front of the open doorway, "I'm not letting you."

He shut his eyes and took a deep breath when he reopened them he saw her staring at him with intensity and such concern, he could tell then, in trying to not break her heart all he was doing was tearing it apart anyway.

He made a decision, maybe it was the wrong one. He shut the door slowly. His gaze was trained on the doorknob where his hand was, he slowly let his fingers slip. He turned to her. He watched her put her shoulders back, she was prepared for something terrible, she couldn't fathom something big enough to make him make such a life-altering decision.

Luke made sure to maintain eye contact so she could see the sincerity in his eyes. He grabbed her left hand and turned it over in his. "I don't want you to be hurt by me walking away. I don't want you to think that you're someone to be walked away from because you're not. You never were." He took another breath and briefly glanced at their fingers. He let their clasped hands fall in between them, then looked back to her eyes, "Around five years ago, I made the biggest mistake of my life. I confounded it by going out with someone else. I should have told you a long time ago. I should've said something. At least then I'd know."

He watched her tilt her head in confusion, "Luke…"

"I love this team, this family, I love you. But I don't just love you. I have to walk away because I can't watch this," he ran his finger over her ring. He felt a couple of small drops fall from his eyes, "Penelope, I can't stay and know that you're married to somebody else. It would be too painful. It already is, I'm in love with you and I have been for a really long time. As strong as I've been in so many aspects of my life, knowing that you will permanently belong to somebody else, is what makes me feel weak. Please stop asking me to stay. I just can't."

He watched her stare at him incredulously, "Penelope, this is exactly why I said you didn't want to know. I did this to myself, to us. It's okay, this isn't a war you have to fight. It's not your battle. You need to go be happy because otherwise, I'll never be able to move on. I know that sounds like a request for me but it's not, for once I'm putting you first."

Silent tears fell from her eyes, just small drops, the same as were coming from his. He shut his eyes again and pulled his hand away slowly, letting hers drop to her side. He watched her turn towards the door they had never moved away from. He stared at his feet, he couldn't watch her walk through the door. It felt like his heart was walking away from him.

He heard the door open then quickly shut and his head shot back up, she was facing the door unmoving. She was the type of person to be concerned about what she was leaving in her wake. He tried to open his mouth to tell her it was okay to go but he couldn't manage to lie to her. Not anymore. He couldn't tell her it was okay to go because to him it was never okay for her to be anywhere that wasn't right next to him. She spun around slowly to look at him. He saw her try to speak but just like him, her words seem to be caught. He watched as she studied him starting at the top of his head as if she was looking over it. He felt her eyes on his cheekbone, his chin, his chest. When her eyes met his, he saw what he never wanted to see, pain.

He was going to comfort her but he didn't get the chance because before he could get the words out he felt her lips on his. He felt her arms come up around his neck. Immediately the need that he had for her, the unrequited passion and deeply buried feelings, consumed him. It couldn't be tamed, not once it was unleashed. Just the feel of her lips on his for the first time meant he would never be able to put the cap back on it no matter how hard he tried. He had already been hers, been a slave to her whether either of them knew it. He tasted her and felt a connection to another human being that he never had before. Maybe he'd loved before or knew what it was to care but this was unrivaled and inexplicable. No words were ever going to be able to adequately describe what she gave him in that moment.

His arms came behind her to land on the small of her back. He wanted to hold on to her forever. He wanted this moment to be the only reality either of them ever knew or needed. He thought this through, over, under, up, and down and yet here he was just acting on instinct.

He felt her unclasp her hands and run her palms over his shoulders and down his chest to his stomach. Her hands reached under his shirt, touching the skin there as she tried to push his shirt up his body. Maybe as a friend he was supposed to tell her that she was making a mistake. She loved someone else, she was marrying someone else.

He couldn't decline the gift that she was giving him, so as she pushed up on his shirt he unzipped her dress, seconds later he was bare-chested and her dress was pooled at her feet. Penelope was in front of him in her underwear, her perfectly manicured hands were on his belt and she was pulling it through the loops, undoing the button and zipper as she pushed his pants down his hips. He briefly glanced down as her hands came to the band of his underwear.

She was standing in front of him, half-naked. Her eccentric jewelry on her wrists and around her neck. Her perfectly curled hair and the bright pink glasses she had decided to wear that day. She was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen. He reached behind her to swiftly unclasp her bra, she pulled her hands away from him so she could let the straps fall down her arms and he took his underwear and pants off fully. They reached for her underwear simultaneously and together their hands pushed them down her backside, letting it fall down her thighs to her feet. They latched onto each other.

He let his mouth travel down the side of her neck to the swell of her breasts, he put his hands on the back of her thighs and lifted her, pinning her back against the door. He heard her moan and he felt himself losing control at the sound coming from the only woman he'd ever really truly been in love with. He swiftly brought his hand down to guide himself into her, he found her entrance and he slowly let his tip slide into her but when he felt how wet she was, how much she wanted him, how her body had already reacted, there was no reason to hold back, he harshly drove in as deep as he could go. She panted as her nails dug into his shoulders her thighs tightened around him, her legs wound behind his back. He kissed her again, neither of them able to hold back, neither of them restrained and as he pounded into her, he acknowledged that nothing he could ever do, would ever give him the satisfaction that this moment did.

He pushed her higher so he could have access to her breasts, he let his mouth come down onto one nipple and sucked it. He heard her wild moan, he felt those perfect nails of hers dig deeper into his back. He switched to the other one, eliciting the same response. He pulled away so he could watch them move, the full cups and perfect nipples bounced up and down as he hastily slammed his hips into her. If she never spoke to him again, he'd still thank every being in the world for giving him this, even just the one time. He'd never felt such emotional pleasure or felt so physically satisfied as he did right now knowing that he was inside of her exactly where he always thought he was supposed to be. Where he should have been every day and every night and every moment for the past five years. He loved her and it was irrevocable, he would never be able to give it away, suppress it, or deny it, not to himself, not to her, definitely not to anyone else. He was in desperate deep love with her.

His eyes took in the unbridled passion that was painted across her face. He knew she was going to come, her breath was getting shorter, her legs were shaking. He brought his hand up to the side of her face and pushed back a curl that was in front of her eyes he stared into her eyes and he watched her stare back it was the most intimate thing he ever felt in his entire life and he knew it was for her too because in moments she was shaking and screaming and moaning. His name fell out of her lips four times as she leaned forward to bite his shoulder. He wanted nothing more than to stay inside of her forever and to make her come like that every second of every day. To see that face, to watch that passion, to stare into those eyes and to hear those moans and his name drip from her tongue. He could have held out and made her come again but all he wanted was to come inside of her to claim her as his own in this primal way, the only way he could right now.

He felt the bite on his shoulder, her thighs gripping his hips her breasts moving. He stayed as deep as he could until everything he had was gone. She was momentarily his. He needed her heart not just her body but at least he had something. He was all but certain he could live off of this memory for the rest of his life and feel completely satisfied by it. Nothing ever lived up to expectation but she exceeded it without even trying.

He let his lips drag across the expanse of her skin. He placed a small bite to her neck and let his lips run up to her ear. If this was the only time he ever got this he needed to say it. "Penelope, I love you. I love you. I love you more than anything. I'm in love with you, even though I messed it up it's still the best thing I've ever done. Falling in love with you, it's absolutely the greatest accomplishment of my entire life. I'm sorry I'm not good enough for you."

He felt her place a kiss on his shoulder and run her hands over the marks that she made with her nails. He wanted nothing more than to look into her eyes but he had never feared something as much as possibly seeing regret or hesitation written on her face. He kept his face buried in her neck, placing soft kisses there. He let his fingernails dig into her thighs, he didn't want to let go.

For a few minutes, he didn't think he would have to, she didn't attempt to move so he pressed her further into the door letting his palms and nails run over the smooth skin of her outer thighs. He finally felt her hands move from his back to his shoulders and she pushed gently, he reluctantly pulled back. He closed his eyes momentarily, trying to muster some sort of bravery but unable to do so he opened them, prepared to be unprepared. He was elated not to find instant regret he was exuberant to see that she wasn't trying to deny what just happened.

His eyes briefly fell to her lips as she spoke. "Luke I have to go, I'm late. I have no explanation, not one I can give anyway. I don't want you to think I'm running but I also don't know if this means anything. I agreed to marry a man that doesn't deserve what I just did to him. But I did it and I don't know why. I'll have to figure that out but in the meantime, I can't break his heart just because mine's confused. You should've said something before. You're wrong if you thought that it was better to keep it to yourself. You would never feel better, if I ever found out that was because of me, it would have destroyed me so don't blame yourself for what just happened. Even though this feels painful and messy I wouldn't take it back if I could. But that doesn't mean I can give you anything. All I know right now is that I have to go because if I don't I might never leave and if I never leave I'll never know if I want to come back." She spoke softly.

It wasn't a confession of love but the fact that she was being so honest, the opposite of what he'd done for the past five years, that was good enough for him. It wasn't a wall he couldn't climb, it was just a question and at least a question might one day bring him an answer. He nodded and kissed her lips soundly and passionately but with control. He wanted her to know how much he loved her, how much he wanted her but he also wanted to have a kiss that he could live with if it was his last. He felt her tighten her legs around him again and her arms come behind his neck. One hand climbed to his hair as she kissed him back, meeting his passion and need. At least she wasn't disgusted by their actions even if they weren't completely honest ones. He let his forehead fall on hers momentarily. He breathed deeply, memorizing her scent.

He slowly lowered her, as his hands ran up her thighs to sit on her butt. He pressed his chest into hers and then pulled away, letting himself fall out of her, immediately knowing there was no place he would ever feel as safe as he felt when he was inside her. Her sharp intake of breath indicating she didn't really want to go either. She still made that choice, which meant his words, his confession, it wasn't enough in that moment. If she still got married, it would crush him but he would be crushed anyway. At least this way he had a piece of her, even just the once. He knew what her lips looked like after he kissed them, what her body felt like when she came. If she was going to belong to someone else, he was already unsure how he would ever bear the pain. Losing her would never make him feel any worse than not knowing her at all. He would've had to live with carrying the weight of the knowledge of how he felt and never even being able to tell her. It was okay if his confession or physical outpouring of love wasn't enough to change her mind on a dime. He couldn't find any regret in his body.

"I can't ask for more than you've already given me. My biggest regret will always be that I gave you a reason to think that it wasn't you I wanted. So if you need to go I won't make this any harder for you than I already have. I can't hurt you more. I know just by feeling this way, I have, but damn it I'm so glad you know." He paused he felt the tears welling up again, "If you can't come back I won't say that I'll be okay but I wasn't going to be okay anyway. Don't come back because of that. Make the choice for yourself. But if you come back I want you to know that I'll always be here. I'm yours. Even if you don't need me, I'll still belong to you." He watched her drink in his words. He knew they meant something to her. He knew that she needed to go. In a way, he needed her to go because if she came back he needed to know it's because she wanted to.

She gave him a slight nod, he acknowledged it with one of his own. Then he leaned in to give her a small kiss. He pulled away and gathered their belongings. After they dressed, she placed a palm on his stomach, he put his hand over hers and let his thumb rub over the back of her hand briefly as he scanned her eyes. He saw the sincerity there, he knew what she said was exactly what she felt in that moment and that was enough. He wasn't in a position to ask for more.

She pulled her hand away, swiftly went through the door and shut it behind her. He went to his room got in his bed, pulled the covers over himself. He smelled like her, he could still feel her. He was going to wrap himself in that for as long as he could and that's what he did as he drifted off to sleep.

….

It had been five weeks since Penelope heard Luke's confession. She not only continued with her wedding plans, she dove deeper into them. But every moment that she was alone, the only thing she thought about was what Luke felt and what she might feel in return. She couldn't figure out why she gravitated towards Luke when in so many ways she was completely satisfied with the man whose ring she was wearing.

She was laying in bed, fully clothed, staring at the ceiling. But she knew what she needed right then. She text Dax to say she was going out with the girls. As she drove, she almost felt guilty but she couldn't really manage it. She was making a conscious decision, it was hard to feel sinful when she knew she wasn't going to regret it. Maybe she was digging a deeper hole or maybe she was already in a deep pit and she might as well have a good time down there.

Penelope knocked, she wondered briefly if she should've called. She hadn't been in contact with him. But his dedication to her was enough to keep him waiting. She wasn't sure if she was trying to get answers but she had a lot of questions.

Luke opened the door, his face was steeped in wonder. There she was, perfect dress, perfect accessories. All perfectly matching. He let his eyes drop down to her legs. Legs he always loved and now knew how they felt wrapped around him.

After their encounter he informed Rossi and Emily that he would take extended leave, holding off on an official resignation. He didn't have an answer and until he did, taking a break was a better solution. He couldn't go on a vacation, he had to stay, in case she came back. He took Roxy for runs. He fixed everything in his house, he built a dresser, a table, a new dog house. He cleaned everything a thousand times. He washed his car, changed the oil. At night he'd watch movies, he went through his entire collection. He would only see Phil and Matt. He kept in touch with Rossi and Emily to be respectful to his superiors but they assumed he was waiting for the wedding, in a way he was, but really, he was waiting on her.

He had taken a shower and laid on his couch and had fallen asleep watching a film. He heard the knock as he slowly rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, he assumed it was Matt coming to check on him again. When he opened the door, hope swelled in his chest but there wasn't a smile on her face. He was terrified she came to say that she made a decision and it didn't turn out in his favor.

He took a step back to indicate she could come in. He reached for the light switch but she caught his wrist and shook her head. There was enough light from the hallway and the glow of the television for them to see each other. She stepped closer, they were only a couple of inches apart but she wasn't attempting to kiss him. He waited, he didn't want to do the wrong thing, she stared into his eyes for a few more moments and he drank her in. Her hands moved to the top of his sweatpants. He hadn't bothered with a shirt after his shower. She was about to push them down, but she stopped herself. He watched her hands travel to the top of her dress, and pull it down along with her bra letting her breasts fall out. She hooked the fabric underneath them. He took a deep breath, his eyes darkening, he felt the need to lean in and taste them.

After staring for a few moments his gaze returned to hers. She had been watching him closely, she loved watching him react to her, he could see it in her eyes. Her hands returned to his sweats, freeing his erection. He was going to reach out to touch her but he didn't get a chance as he saw her drop to her knees in front of him, keeping eye contact the whole time. There was determination in her eyes, he had no idea why this woman would give him this gift when all he had done was hurt her.

The neediest moan he ever heard exited his lips as he saw her take him in her mouth. He felt out of breath, almost dizzy from the knowledge that the woman he was in love with was on her knees in front of him. She pulled back and saw his hands at his sides, making fists, she grabbed his hand moving it to the back of her head. He brought his other one down to grab her ponytail, lightly pulling her head back. At this angle, he was reminded just how beautiful she always was. He sighed contentedly as he watched her.

She knew there was no easy answer, and today she was distinctly more confused. But she was down on her knees for him and she loved being there. She respected him as an agent, as a friend, as a person, as a man, and seemingly as a lover. She loved how his eyes flared as he gazed down at her. She could see the elation, need, gratitude, and unbridled desire he had for her.

They maintained eye contact until he shouted her name. He watched her as she swallowed around him eagerly. He stayed there for a few moments observing her eyes, heavy-lidded with lust. He slowly let himself fall out of her lips. He smirked but when he looked back to her face he became pained with the deep desire to do it all over again. She got herself up, he reached out to help her but she didn't let him. She quickly pulled her bra up then settled her dress over it. He reached for the hem of her short dress, he was prepared to drop to his knees to repay the favor, hook her leg over his shoulder and make her come as many times as she wanted. Until he felt her hand on his wrist, and he realized that he knew nothing.

She placed a kiss in the middle of his chest right at her eye line. She gazed into his eyes and gave him the shyest smile he had ever seen. She whirled around, opened the door then shut it behind her. She hadn't made a decision yet. She came here because she was still investigating exactly what she felt. How much she trusted him and how much she needed from him what she could take and what he would take from her and return.

He didn't know for sure but he was almost positive he passed with flying colors. He was certain that her walking away at that moment wasn't a bad thing. He was hers, even if she belonged to someone else on paper he was always going to belong to her in every other way. He sighed but smiled at the door. It wasn't over yet. She didn't have to trust him but she did. She was here to give him something and to let him know not to give up yet. That made him love her so deeply because even when she was probably in the biggest struggle of her life, she cared about him. No one ever cared about him so deeply. Even if she only loved him as a friend or family she loved him the way he wanted to be loved.

….

Penelope drove back to her house. She felt horrendous for cheating the first time but she also didn't regret it and she couldn't reconcile that. As of that morning, lying to Dax didn't seem all that important anymore. Penelope felt a happiness she didn't know she could feel. It wasn't simple to walk away from Dax though, she didn't know if she even should.

Dax's car was in the driveway. Even though he was gone a lot for business he always made an effort and that's what mattered. That's what made her feel wanted and made her not feel alone even when he was gone. He was a good man, who deserved better than this. She checked her phone, Luke had texted her.

 **I love you. I don't know if I'm allowed to say it but I can't make love to you and not tell you that I love you**.

She smiled, she knew that's how he would feel. No matter what the act was, if he loved her as much as he claimed, it was always making love. Dax must have seen the light come on in the driveway, he was in the doorway. She held her phone up to indicate she was reading something.

Penelope smiled at her phone again, she had just made love to the father of her child. Between all the wedding planning and everything else running through her mind, she didn't realize it at first. She was not on birth control, it did weird things to her body. She and Dax used condoms. They decided that he would get a vasectomy after they got married. As soon as she got into a relationship she would usually bite the bullet and use the pill and condoms. But with Luke she didn't even think about it. She wasn't sure if it was because she was so flabbergasted by his confession or if she had a deeper passion for him than she ever knew. Maybe it was because he was a good friend and there was trust there that didn't exist with other people. Somehow what was happening emotionally was too overwhelming and neither of them remembered the consequences of the physical act. She hadn't even thought about it afterwards, otherwise there would've been weeks of wondering instead of a couple days.

All day long she felt nauseous, unsure if it was the pregnancy or the thought of everything that had to do with it. At no point did she scream or cry or wonder what the hell she had done. This was an even bigger mess but for some reason she couldn't bring herself to lose it. The only conclusion she came to was that she wanted to go to him. She read the text one more time, smiling at it then locking her phone. She looked up and saw Dax's smiling face. She tried to smile back but she could barely manage, this man didn't deserve this.

….

Penelope couldn't imagine what Luke was going through. She wasn't sure if she was in love with him the same way he was in love with her. She also wasn't certain that she was ever not in love with him. There was only one explanation for her willingness to break Dax's heart, she couldn't imagine she was doing it for any other reason unless she was in love with Luke.

She wondered if Luke was just a moment in time. Something that couldn't go unrequited forever but couldn't become anything more. But she also wondered why she didn't run to him and inform everyone on earth that she belonged to Luke Alvez.

The team was in her living room waiting to start her bachelorette party. They already knew what Luke felt but it was clear that they didn't think she knew. She hadn't for a long time. Even Lisa knew, her words made sense now. She motioned for them to take a seat. She stood in front of them as if ready to give the speech. Penelope took a deep breath and addressed everybody, "I can't do this."

Derek furrowed his brow, "It's just a party."

"You know I'm not talking about the party."

"Cold feet happen. Being married three times has taught me this." Rossi gave her a smile she gave him a small tilt of her lip in return.

She took another deep breath, "I don't have cold feet. I love Dax and I'm certain I could live a really nice life with him. I'm almost positive that's exactly what I should be doing. But I'm also certain I'm not going to. I can't marry Dax because I'm pregnant."

Emily exchanged a glance with Rossi before speaking "We know you two don't want kids. Was he upset when you told him?"

"Neither of us wants children, but that's not-" Penelope was shaking her head trying to get the words to come out right.

JJ closed her eyes and then reopened them, "Honey, you have a choice. You're allowed to make it. You can do what's right for you. Dax will still love you. You can go back to your original plan it's okay." JJ said it so sincerely.

Everyone in the room understood and wouldn't judge her but that's not what she meant. "He would raise a child with me, and if I chose to have an abortion he'd be okay with that too. But-" she glanced around at the people that couldn't fathom a reason and it seemed like she wasn't even giving them one.

"Garcia, we don't see the problem." Spencer spoke.

All of their eyes were glued to her, "It's not Dax's." She watched everyone's mouth fall open as they stared at her. "If I could walk away and not tell him, I would. He deserves the truth but he doesn't deserve to be hurt. I can't turn it back and to be completely honest, I don't really want to."

Matt had quietly been in the corner with Kristy. Penelope glanced at him a couple of times. She figured Luke could've told him but she was certain that he hadn't. It was like Matt was rooting for Luke no matter what and maybe the hope he had made his eyes more open. "Garcia I'll do whatever you need me to do."

She took a deep breath when she heard Matt's words. There was a reason why he and Luke were best friends, they were both wonderful people, both good men and quite frankly they were both two of her best friends. She smiled at him as tears fell down her face, "Thank you."

Spencer furrowed his brow, "Penelope?"

"I cheated." She examined her feet, tapping one toe at the other. She looked up, every single eye was trained on her, "It's Luke's." She watched every face in the room turn to shock once again.

Emily spoke first, ever level-headed leader, "What do you need us to do?"

"I need to figure out what to do." Her voice was shaky.

Savannah left Derek's side and came to Penelope, she put an arm around her and then put her forehead to hers, "We can help you."

Penelope nodded, "I'm supposed to meet Dax tomorrow at the Four Seasons, at two, to have lunch with the officiant. If someone can call her and cancel, I can tell Dax then?"

Matt spoke up, "Done." Luke was his best friend and the woman standing in front of him was going to have Luke's baby. This was the woman that his best friend was so desperately in love with. She was also his friend and he loved her like a sister. He wanted nothing more than for her to be happy, he always assumed that Luke would make her the happiest. It was never his place to say but it didn't mean he didn't think it. Matt came to her on the opposite side of Savannah, "I'm sure it's all going to be more than okay." He kissed her temple and put his arm around her too.

She nodded gratefully, she knew he was right. At the end of this, she was pretty sure she was going to have a beautiful man, that was desperately in love with her, be the father to her child. A child she never wanted but that somehow she felt grateful for already. Maybe this happened to save her from making a mistake. Her life with Dax would've been just fine, but just fine was probably never what she should've been aiming for anyway.

"I'm sorry if you feel deceived. It's clear that I was in as much denial as Luke, but, even though I've created quite a mess, I'm pretty sure it's sort of the best thing I've ever done so," she shook her head, "it's okay if you don't understand. I need to go to Luke." She grabbed her purse off of the hook. Matt walked her to the door and shut it behind her.

He returned to the head of the room, "If anyone feels that way, I'll do whatever it is you're unwilling to. I don't think this is the mistake. Her marrying the wrong guy would've been. This is what needed to happen. I'm sorry Dax might be hurt but I'm not sorry it's not too late for her and Luke." Matt spoke adamantly.

Tara cleared her throat, "Even though this isn't the way I wanted it to happen, for five years I've thought her and Luke should be together."

Emily nodded, "Me too, but I thought she knew what was best for her, I was planning to support that. I'm sort of glad I don't have to anymore."

Rossi set his glass on the mantle next to him, "It took them long enough. I would've walked her down the aisle because that's what she asked. But her and Luke are supposed to be together. I'm not mad she'll be where she belonged in the first place."

"I assumed she just didn't feel the way Luke did but now that I know she does, I wouldn't be able to support this marriage and still call myself her friend." Reid added.

"Love can make anyone act out of character but I'm glad that it made her acknowledge what she really needs." Will said softly.

"I'm elated. This is the best thing for her and Luke. We've forgotten him in this," Kristy reminded.

Derek was staring at the floor, "I'm always on her side, but I don't understand the same way everyone else does apparently." Everyone stayed silent as they watched him try to bargain with himself.

"Morgan," JJ waited for him to turn to her, "I wish she would've come to me too. With Dax she still relied on us, she was in a loving relationship but we were still first on her list. But she wouldn't choose any of us above Luke. We both know that." She smiled sadly at him.

Derek shut his eyes and clenched his jaw. With Dax, he could still be the man that meant the most to her and he selfishly took pride in that. But he could see that he hadn't been for a long time. Luke had a deeper connection with her than he ever could. Penelope was his best friend and he'd be lying to himself if he claimed he never thought that they could've had an epic relationship but, there was never a reason to try it. They had crossed multiple lines over the course of their friendship but nothing ever went anywhere. Neither of them thought a relationship with each other would be better than their friendship. They both knew they were meant for other people. JJ was right, he was scared of losing her, he might have created a family and asked her to take a backseat but he hadn't been prepared to truly do that for her.

He turned towards the room, they knew what he was thinking, "I need to do this for her, I know that. I wasn't prepared to truly lose her. I knew she would be happy, but she'd still be mine, which means I've failed at being a friend." He gave Savannah an apologetic nod, she tilted her head at him she knew that, how could she not, she had the famous woman's intuition.

Matt straightened up, "That's it then. We help her, whatever she needs. Whatever they need."

….

When Luke opened the door and saw her smiling so wide he couldn't help but smile back, "You're here?" He gestured with his hand, "Come in."

She walked to his couch and sat down, "Can you sit with me? I need to talk to you. And yeah, I actually need to speak to you with the words." She laughed.

He chuckled and took a seat, "Please go ahead I'm all yours."

She nodded gratefully, "There is a part of me that thinks that this is a little crazy but there's a bigger part of me that knows it isn't. So here it is, I'm choosing you."

"Good, because I'm already yours." A big smile spread across his face and she couldn't help but give him a big grin back.

She glanced at the couch, she was incredibly nervous but she hoped that if he really wanted her and everything she was then he'd want what they had created together as well. "I'm pregnant."

Luke was stunned, it wasn't ideal but he meant what he said, "I had no right to do this to you but if you're choosing me, believe me, I'll do this with you. We can work it out with Dax."

Penelope started laughing uncontrollably, she wiped her tears from laughter and put her hand on his thigh, "I'm pretty sure I just fell more in love with you." She watched his eyes turn up in elation, "There's not really a reason to involve Dax since it's yours." His eyes filled with more shock, she watched all the thoughts roll in his head through the movie screen that was his eyes.

A huge goofy grin spread across his face wider than she'd ever seen it before, "Oh, I didn't see that coming. No offense to him but that's even better."

"I sort of think so too. So, you're okay? I never wanted kids and I didn't think you did either."

"I don't think I did, but sitting here knowing we created this together I'm thinking I do." They smiled at each other. "I'm not doubting you, I just want to know, how do you know it's mine?"

"Beyond the timing, which sort of narrows it down. Although," she winced, "not completely. The real reason is that Dax and I use condoms. I've never had sex with him without one. It would be highly unlikely that it failed now and that you, coming inside of me, didn't take."

His face was shocked again but there was joy behind it, "I didn't even think about it. I'm sorry. Not sorry, but you know what I mean. Why didn't you ask me to use anything?"

"It didn't occur to me. I usually have an irrational fear of getting pregnant. Dax is the first person I've had sex with without condoms _and_ birth control. So, I don't really have an excuse and you'd think that would've registered before, during, or after but I didn't figure it out until this week."

He chuckled, but she could also see the pride on his face, "I'm going to take that as a compliment and to be honest I'm finding it hard not to puff out my chest right now."

"I just want you to know, that's not why I chose you. I think I've been in love with you for a while. All that ran through my mind when I found out was that if it was anyone else's I would probably make the choice not to have it and it didn't even occur to me to prevent it, that's my answer. You're the only one that I would change my mind for, if that's not the proof that I needed I don't know what could be."

He figured his face was going to be in pain tomorrow from the big smile that was now seemingly permanent, "I see exactly what you mean I wouldn't want to do this with anyone but you and I'm glad I'm never going to have to."

"If you want me to do the test to confirm it's yours I can. But even if it wasn't I would still choose you. Do you think I should tell him the truth and let what happens happen?"

"That's not necessary, it's mine even if it wasn't, but let's be honest we know it's mine. As far as what to tell Dax, lying isn't like us, we need to get back to who we really are. I think you give him the truth and we try and act with as much respect as we can."

She nodded, "I need to go see him tomorrow at two but until then I'd like to stay here." She took a deep breath, "He's at his bachelor party, I figured I should let him have it."

"I understand. You just found out?"

"Actually when I was here last, I already knew."

"Why didn't you say anything?"

"I was trying to wrap my head around it. I came over here because, to be honest, I wanted to be with the father of my child. I didn't really think beyond that." She shrugged.

"I think I kind of like that. I'd like you to stay until you have to leave tomorrow. I just want to assure you that when I said I wanted everything, I meant it. In my perfect world, you'd move in here tomorrow and we dive into this head first. I want to marry you, but if you can't think about that right now, I understand, just know that's what I want and I'll wait until you're ready."

"I'm ready. I want that too. I'd marry you tomorrow but I have plans at two." She giggled, it wasn't funny but somehow it was still hilarious.

"I have the morning free," he teased. "But we can make sure this is behind us and then we can get married anywhere and anytime you want."

"Now that I feel as deeply as I do and I know it's reciprocated, I don't really need all that wedding nonsense. If that's alright with you?"

"Perfectly fine. I want you moved in here so that might take a couple of days, I'll marry you then. If it takes a couple of weeks, I'll marry you then. And if you change your mind I'll ask you every morning until you change it back."

"I love you Luke Alvez."

"I love you Penelope Garcia."

"I should be more scared about all this but for the first time I know I'm doing something right.

"I know. You're going to be my wife I'm going to be your husband we're going to be parents to our child together. I'm so ready for this, just a couple months ago that seemed unfathomable."

"Tell me I'm not a terrible person for being sort of super happy right now."

"You're the best person I know. You didn't intend any of this but it's good it happened because it's what's right for you. You'll never get me to say that what's right for you isn't worth it."

She smirked, "In that case can we have like, so much sex tonight, because I think that will be really good for me."

He started laughing, "Oh, you have no choice in the matter I'm going to do so many dirty things to you. And hey at least you don't have to worry about getting pregnant."

She giggled, "You're already making all of my worries fade away."

* * *

Thanks to everyone who make it a point to review or reach out. Also, many thanks for the favs and follows. I am grateful so many of you enjoy my stuff.

If you're on EST, I am a little late posting this. About fifteen minutes to be exact but yes, this was supposed to be (technically) yesterday's update. I will still do one tonight, probably for Summer or Cash, maybe When. Can't remember where I am with anything at the moment.

I was feeling really shitty yesterday, and today I had to sort so much out so I am behind on getting back to everyone but I will!

Thanks to both Silkia and Thomais for saying I didn't make a complete mess of this story.


	9. Ride Home

I have marked this complete because I have no plan to write more Garvez. If that changes then I'll change this back to in progress. But I am glad I haven't watched CM in weeks, I'd rather enjoy what I'm watching not be upset by it. I am so behind on review, I know. But my neck and arm have been in pain so I am not able to type as much when it flares up. Thank you as always for reaching out.

 **Ride Home**

A short fic about Luke and Pen with some angst. You get a little smut as well. Nothing too intricate here just a fun little fic.

* * *

Luke was waiting for her to reenter the bullpen. Penelope had told the group, within the hour she would be done for the day so they could head to O'Keefes.

Ever since he agreed to go that first time, almost two years ago, he hadn't missed an outing since. At first, he didn't want to get attached to these people, but that was soon thrown out the window when he realized, with these people you were in the fold whether you want to be or not. Sometimes various team members had other obligations, kids, moms, family, but he and Penelope never did. More than a few times they had been the last ones standing. At first, she wasn't very happy about it. She would roll her eyes when he would do anything from asking her if she wanted another drink to handing her a napkin when she couldn't reach. But as that wore off they started having a lot of conversations.

Conversations that would usually turn more and more personal as the night went on and the drinks kept coming. She finally let her guard down and he found out more about her. But then when they finally had a handle on each other's backgrounds and the getting to know you part of their tentative relationship was over, his flirting took over. The very first time she looked at him warily but then he saw the quirk in her eye and she flirted right back.

Ever since then, no matter what the occasion, no matter the outing, they would make sure they were the last ones to leave. Except for one night when both Matt and JJ got babysitters and brought their spouses along. Everyone was off the next day, and they planned on taking advantage of the night as much as they could. Penelope and Luke waited and waited for their friends to leave so they could carry on with their normal routine. She danced with JJ, he danced with Emily. She spoke to Kristy about shoes, he talked to Tara about cars.

Their usual routine of waiting to be alone was interrupted, every single person with them shut down the bar. After last call, the whole group walked outside together, Luke and Penelope awkwardly glanced at each other, him with a side eye, her over the top of her glasses. None of the team had driven, preparing for the long night. So when they walked out and there were taxis lined up on the busy downtown street they hugged drunken goodbyes and found cabs to take them home. Luke looked at Penelope, Penelope looked at Luke and without any words spoken they got into the same taxi.

Penelope gave the driver Luke's address, making him want to glance at her, but he kept his attention on the road outside. Her hand was on the seat in between them, her fingers splayed wide, he saw them and he put his hand down as well, letting their pinky fingers touch. Both of them took a deep breath from the contact. Neither looked at the other or said a word. When the cab pulled up to the front of his house, he handed the driver the cab fare along with a generous tip. Penelope was already waiting on the sidewalk, he followed and they travelled the path to his front door as if they had done it every day.

When they got into his house Roxy greeted them excitedly but quickly, she could sense she wasn't really needed. Luke walked to his kitchen counter where his stools were and pulled them both out. He took off his jacket tossing it the general direction of a counter. He wasn't thinking about anything, purposely not letting his mind wander to what the hell was supposed to happen now. He poured two glasses of tequila, setting hers in front of her as she situated herself having also thrown her coat somewhere.

He sat down, drinking the first shot that he'd poured then pouring some more. She sipped hers daintily but consistently, making her glass empty quickly as well. He tipped the bottle refilling her glass, before turning his body to face hers as if they were sitting at a bar talking to each other, she adjusted and did the same. They both relaxed at the same time, settling into their familiar routine, of talking and flirting. She made fun of him dancing with Emily even though he had more rhythm than her and he made fun of her thinking that arm wrestling Reid would be a good idea. A time came where there was a lull in the conversation, at that point they would usually be told it was last call and they would both part ways. This time there was no one to yell last call and therefore no way to decide when they should part ways.

She was pretty drunk, so was he, they'd only gotten this bad once before, he remembered stumbling into his house and feeling like he should've been with her and sending her a text that luckily made no sense. Otherwise, he would have been the ass that sent a drunk text and ruined everything.

They both fixated on each other's faces trying to figure the other out, neither of them sure about anything. Feelings; their own or each other's. What they should or shouldn't do. Neither of them knew if the friendship was more. They didn't know. Neither of them wanted to know either. Not in this moment.

Without a word he grabbed her hand, shut off the light and led her down the hall. They entered his bedroom, he went in the ensuite bathroom, he found a new toothbrush in his top bathroom drawer and set it on the counter. He spread toothpaste on his own toothbrush before setting the tube on the counter where she swiftly picked it up. After they brushed their teeth, she grabbed a washcloth from the stack behind him to wash her face. When she shut off the bathroom light he was by his closet pulling out a shirt and sweats. He threw a few things on the ottoman at the foot of his bed indicating she should pick something for herself. She thumbed through the clothes and picked up a t-shirt that appeared worn in and soft. She held it up indicating she was taking it. He reached over and grabbed a dark grey pair of sweats, then he took off his shirt, tossing it precariously to the corner of the room. She reached behind her and pulled the zipper of her dress down, thanking all that was right in the world that she wore sexy underwear and bra since she purposely dressed for an evening out. Her dress fell to the floor, then she pulled the t-shirt over her head. He moved to the side of the bed closest to the door and she rounded the bed taking the other side both pulling back the covers and getting in.

Settling into their pillows, finally, they glanced at each other again, both of them noticing the glassy eyes of the other. Still smelling a bit of tequila despite the minty toothpaste they'd both used. They simultaneously inched closer to the other on the bed, he brought his hand up to settle on her hip. She brought a hand to his bare chest and he let his eyes close, focusing on the feeling of her fingertips. They brought their heads closer together settling into the warmth of each other's bodies. She leaned into him putting her face near his neck, smelling the masculine scent of him, his cologne long faded. She did nothing but hover her nose and lips above his neck and upper chest. As he let her do so, his fingertips had tightened on her hip, hard enough to bruise.

After she enjoyed him for a few minutes, she turned to lay with her back to him, he slid up behind her connecting his chest with her back, putting his hand on her other hip. He brought his face to her hair taking in the scent of her and then pushing it out of the way with his nose. She pulled the hair tie off of her wrist and reached up to pull her hair into a sloppy high ponytail. He took an audible breath in appreciation and then returned to her now exposed, neck. She felt his breath on her just below her ear. She could almost feel the moisture from his lips just centimeters off of her skin made her shiver and squeezed her thighs together trying not to squeal. But her breathing picked up. He flattened his hand running it up her side stopping at her waist and then down to her upper thigh, and back again.

She pushed back connecting her butt with his obvious erection, just enjoying the contact of their bodies. If anything else happened it would break their unspoken agreement, so both of them steadied themselves. Eventually, between their inebriation and the early morning hour, they fell into a deep sleep together.

….

Now, it'd been weeks since that night and Luke had barely been able to push it out of his mind. He had to actively concentrate on cases, compartmentalizing that memory when he had work to do, but in all of his free time, all he did was think about it. He would close his eyes and feel the soft skin of her thighs on his fingers, her palm on his chest and smell the intoxicating scent of her. He had been using that memory every day, and he was getting tired of not having more.

They had been so busy at work that the team had only gone out once since then. He had been waiting for it. He followed their normal routine right up until the last person was saying goodbye, it was Emily and she offered Penelope a ride since she had stayed sober wanting to be as alert for the meeting she had to attend in the morning. Penelope accepted and it made Luke the angriest he could ever remember. She knew he had been waiting. She knew that he was anticipating this. She knew that even though they hadn't acknowledged it at all in the bright light of day that he wanted to do it again.

So he waited only a few days before he suggested that they have another outing. Other than a few surprised glances that he was the one to suggest such a thing, no one questioned it. Here he was, waiting, he wasn't going to let that happen again, not a chance in hell. He would corner her if he had to, he would buy all the drinks and make sure that everyone else was too drunk to even know that cars had tires. She wasn't going home without him.

Penelope walked into the bullpen, "Lovebugs, are we all ready?" She glanced over him, which meant she was even more intent on pretending it didn't happen. He grabbed his backpack and followed the group to the elevator, he positioned himself right next to her and he purposely brushed her thigh with his fingers, he saw her tense up and he smiled. Then he turned his palm out so that it was more than obvious he was touching her on purpose. He saw her breath hitch and her face become flushed. Luke felt vindicated, a slight connection having such an effect.

He knew Matt was not drinking so he asked to bum a ride from him. Penelope drove JJ, which fit perfectly with his plan. They arrived at O'Keefes and the only slightly drunken debauchery commenced. Luke played darts with JJ. Penelope danced with Tara. JJ and Matt called it a night as soon as one of them mentioned a kid-related activity. Luke decided to chat with Rossi and Spence. As he did, he observed the three remaining women dance happily with each other.

When the night was winding down, and Rossi and Spencer left, Luke made his way towards Penelope who was at the edge of the bar chatting to the bartender that knew their group well. He nodded at the lady that knew his drink order, "Another?" The woman queried as Penelope glanced over her shoulder to see that the woman was talking to Luke.

Luke smiled at her, "No, thanks. We're heading out soon." She nodded as she moved to answer a call for more vodka at the other end of the bar.

Penelope turned back to the drink in front of her and took a sip. Luke leaned against the bar, and stared at Penelope who was purposely not making eye contact, "So, want to tell me why you accepted a ride home last time?" He wasn't sure he enjoyed subtle anymore.

Penelope rolled her eyes at him, "Not really, no."

Luke scoffed, "And tonight?"

"Well, Emily hasn't offered me a ride yet has she?" Penelope answered with attitude.

"True and she and Tara are still here, so she might. And what are you going to say?"

"I guess it will be nice to save the cab fare." Penelope stuck her neck out at him.

"Or you and I could share." Luke said plainly.

Penelope squinted at him, "Could do. But why?"

Luke scoffed again, "We both know why, Garcia." He didn't let his eyes fall from hers.

Penelope was shocked at his brazenness initially, but to her credit, she maintained eye contact and rose to the challenge. "Honestly, I'm not sure I do."

Luke nodded, "Fair enough. So I'll tell you why I think so." He waited for her to nod, "Because you and I like to spend time together and the last couple times that's been harder to do. The other two remaining members of our team will leave before us and we can sit here and talk like we usually do or we can give up the facade and just go back to my house like we both want to do."

Penelope raised an eyebrow at him, "How much alcohol did you have tonight?"

"Not very much at all. I wanted you to take me seriously when I came to tell you this."

Penelope scoffed, "Right, so you want to go talk at your house and then cuddle - not drunkenly but maybe slightly tipsy-ly?"

Luke lifted one shoulder, "Sort of. I liked being comfortable when we were talking last time. Plus, I'm not even tipsy. I'd be happy to _basically sober_ cuddle you."

Penelope had a slight smirk but was also incredulous, "But _why_?"

Luke silently chuckled, "I don't know Garcia, maybe the same reason you backed your ass into me when we were laying together the last time. Or maybe the same reason why I was running my hand up your thigh leaving work today."

Penelope lightly tapped him on the bicep, "Shh," she sat up straighter to look over his shoulder, "What if the girls were nearby?"

Luke rolled his eyes, "Fine, Garcia, I'll be quieter but am I the only one thinking this way?"

Penelope rolled her eyes and moved the miniature straw around in her drink as if annoyed at it, "Obviously not. But I'm assuming we didn't think this was a good idea otherwise why the fuck wouldn't we have already done something about it?"

Luke smirked, at least she wasn't going to play stupid about this. Blunt and honest had its perks, "You're right. I know if I was braver I'd have said something long ago. But now we're here, and, considering how pissed off I was at you for not coming home with me last time, I'd say it's a smart idea for me to ask you if you're as willing as me to take the chance."

Penelope glanced around his bicep, she saw the other two women walking towards them. She nodded towards them indicating to Luke that they were coming, he moved forward and stood next to her as the two women approached, "I think we're heading out. Want a ride? I'm giving Tara one." Emily asked Penelope.

Penelope rose from her chair, "Not necessary. I have my car and a sober driver." Penelope poked Luke in his chest.

"Sweet." Tara said in approval.

Luke followed Penelope with a smile as she trailed the other two women, they made it to the parking lot and Penelope hugged both women goodbye, "See you two on Monday."

"Bye, lady and gent." Emily acknowledged as she got into the driver's side of her vehicle.

Penelope walked towards her car, she threw the keys to Luke and then got in on the passenger's side. He began their journey wordlessly until he decided to confirm, "So it is my house then?"

Penelope was watching the buildings pass by as they drove, "Sure, whatever. I have a go bag in my trunk." She didn't turn to him as he smirked. "Why do you think they didn't ask how you were getting home afterwards?" She finally looked at him to get his answer.

Luke genuinely didn't know, "Hmm, I don't think they think anything has happened between us. We've not tried to hide anything. I'm guessing they assume I will take a cab the rest of the way or take your car and return it tomorrow. You haven't done such a thing with anyone else?"

Penelope shrugged, "I have."

Luke pulled into his driveway, he popped the trunk and grabbed her duffel bag as she got out of the car and readjusted her shoe. He opened the door for her, followed her in then turned on the dimmer for the living room. She took off her shoes as he threw her duffel on the couch. He was eyeing her with amusement and a hint of shock. "I thought your shoes were the last thing to come off. Even last time you didn't take them off until I gave you a shirt so you knew you were about to get in bed."

Penelope kicked her shoes to the side, "But these ones pinch, I remember now why I banished them to the secondary closet. They're pretty but deceptive. Monsters." She scolded the footwear.

Luke took off his shoes too and set down his and her keys. "Right, want more to drink? Or anything else?" He let Roxy out the back door after she finished greeting Penelope.

"Nope. Going to use your bathroom." Penelope shouted casually as she walked down the hall. She shut the door behind her, then stared in the mirror for a moment, "Honestly, what the fuck are you doing right now? You're not even drunk, so you can't blame the alcohol." She sighed but checked her makeup and adjusted her bra and dress. She lifted the dress to make sure her underwear was at the right place at her hip she then stuck her hands inside her bra to make her cleavage appear more enticing. Fixing her makeup was out of the question, he was a profiler and would notice so she just put on chapstick since that wasn't noticeable the way fresh lipstick would be. She stared at herself for another moment, "This better be a good idea." She warned herself. "You keep wearing your best underwear for this so-" She replied to herself.

Penelope exited the bathroom, the living room light was off and only the bedroom light was on. Guess he was leading her there without words. "Hey," Luke greeted as she entered his doorway.

"Hey," she replied casually.

Luke was hanging up a couple of shirts he had left out that morning when he was trying to decide what to wear, even though he wasn't sure one button up was that much better than another. "Want a shirt?" He questioned with his back to her.

"I think I have a sleep romper in my bag but… I'm not sure what we're doing here so, yeah."

Luke chuckled, "We're doing whatever you think is a good idea." He glanced over at her as he picked out a shirt and some shorts for himself.

"The best idea would've probably been for me to take my ass home." She answered honestly.

Luke bopped his head, "Okay." He shut the closet and threw the clothes he procured on the bed as he started unbuttoning his shirt. "We can sleep if you want. Or like last time we can cuddle up and sort of put our hands places. The third option is something more like, we can really put our hands places. And then I believe it starts moving to options that you should know I'm perfectly okay with but that are up to you." Luke shrugged his shirt off his shoulders but didn't move to change into his shorts as he waited for her to answer.

Penelope was watching his hands and face as he spoke but now her eyes were trained on his chest. She took a deep breath and blew it out. "Luke, genuinely, is this… I'm starting not to care if it's a good idea but we work together so what - what happens if-"

Luke moved a few steps towards her, she shuffled forward so they were in arm's distance of each other, "Penelope, I'm not going to lie to you or use you. I decided after being disappointed when I didn't get to spend time with you last time that I needed to be straightforward. I'm not promising I know how to always do that but for this, I knew I had to. I don't know what you want and I don't know what I'm supposed to want but if you think I'm going to let anything ruin our work or even our friendship, you're wrong. But if you think that will happen then… All I'm saying is this is what it is unless you tell me otherwise."

Penelope swallowed the lump in her throat, she wasn't sure what she wanted either. She wanted him, sure. She always had. But now that she knew him, the attraction was not, physical alone. That's what made this a more nuanced choice. But if he thought that they could handle this then maybe they could, "So basically we control what this is and that's that?"

Luke shrugged, "Essentially."

Penelope bit her lip as she stared at the carpet beneath her feet, she attempted not to smile as she thought about how much she wanted him over the years and how much it was obviously reciprocated. If she told him right now she just wanted to lay in bed and talk to him he would give her that and if not then he would also apparently go down on her until dawn. She wasn't sure she didn't want all of it. "So we're not going to be weird about any of this?"

"I won't. You?"

"No. I won't. But… we don't need any answers?"

"Do you have any?"

"No. Not yet."

"Me either."

Penelope bit her lip again, but she finally met his eyes again, "Okay."

Luke raised an eyebrow at her, "Okay?" He stuck his neck out, "Okay, what?"

Penelope shrugged, "I'm not going to give you a script. Just," she gestured with both hands.

Luke snickered, "Thanks, helpful." He moved past her to shut off the main light in the bedroom leaving on only the bedside lamp, "So I guess just tell me as we go along if something is or isn't - well, ya know."

Penelope had spun to watch him hit the light switch, her back was to the bed and she gave him a slight nod. The nerves suddenly started creeping over her skin. She thought talking about it would be awkward but now knowing she was probably going to be kissing him momentarily made her anxious.

Luke slowly walked towards her, he finally felt the jitters as he realized this was finally happening. When he reached her they stood toe to toe. They both inched forward, their bodies coming within inches of each other. Luke brought his hands up to her hair and Penelope put her hands on his sides. Their faces were close as they scanned each other for any hint of fear or trepidation when neither of them felt any they simultaneously moved in for their first kiss. It wasn't cautious but it was careful until they finally got the taste of each other they had both been craving for so long. Their kiss intensified immediately quickly becoming frantic. Their hands followed their lips lead as they undressed each other.

Luke unzipped Penelope's dress. Penelope unzipped Luke's pants. He lifted her dress over her head as her hands explored. Luke pulled away to look at her body and then his eyes watched her hands run over his erection. Her eyes moved up to meet his lust-filled ones. His lips were pierced open as he was breathing heavily.

He pushed her backwards towards the bed and kissed her as he followed. Luke spread her legs and began kissing her thighs, slowly working his way up and further in. Penelope was squirming and her hands found his hair. Her eyes closed and her back bowed as she dug her nails into his scalp encouraging his actions. Luke pulled away to push his pants off all the way. Then he pulled her underwear down her legs quickly and immediately returned to making his way to her center.

"Luke," she breathed his name.

Luke finally gave her what she wanted, as his tongue found her clit. He moved his tongue quickly back and forth as she squirmed. He felt her legs begin to shake so he stuck two fingers inside of her as his tongue worked back and forth. He felt her clench his fingers and then her body shook as she came, "Luke! Oh my God!" She held him to her until the feeling overpowered her and she had to push his head away. He straddled her legs, he brought her up and reached behind her to unhook her bra. She was still recovering and she let him do whatever as she felt weak. He threw her bra aside and as her back hit the bed she felt his lips around her right nipple.

Penelope was beginning to return to reality and as she was she realized that it was Luke's lips currently giving her all of the pleasure currently radiating through her body. "Luke, is this really happening?" She gasped out.

Luke mumbled onto her skin, "God, I hope so."

"Good."

Luke switched to her other nipple, his hands came to her breasts to feel and weigh them in his palms. He lightly bit her breast when she stroked him and used her other hand to cup him. "Luke, can we just," she moaned instead of finishing her sentence. She pushed his underwear down to free him, he took the hint and briefly let his feet land on the floor so he could discard his last bit of clothing.

He crawled over her again, meeting her gaze as he looked over her, "P, is this," he asked the rest of his question with his eyes.

Penelope nodded, Luke brushed her hair back with one hand and used the other to line himself up. They were staring at each other as he let the tip enter her. They both hissed, and their eyes fell to their joining but they didn't lose eye contact for long. As soon as their eyes met again Luke drove into her which made her dig her nails into his biceps, "Fuck, Luke. Just uh fuck." her voice was strained.

Penelope pulsed her hip up wanting to feel him pounding into her but he purposely let his weight keep her from gaining the friction she wanted. "You can help next time or anytime after that but right now, I'm fucking you the way I always wanted, so don't even try." Luke growled at her.

Penelope wasn't inclined to disagree. Her first time with him was going to be him driving into her with abandon. She'd have signed up for that the first time she heard him speak if she'd known how turned on she would feel before he even moved inside of her. Penelope was about to agree when Luke rapidly began slamming into her. She raked her nails down his arms and then bit into his neck.

Luke watched her unravel as she manically tried to exert her energy and gain sensation. He watched her breasts bounce as he slammed into her. His lips had to surround them again which he did hastily and without any logic.

Penelope held his head to her, the sensation of his lips along with the feeling of him stretching her so perfectly made it simple for her. Her mind contemplated the fact that this was Luke slamming into her with his perfect body, that she always pretended she didn't see. She threw her head back as she felt the orgasm circling but as she felt the flood coming to her center she loudly moaned his name out of her lips.

Luke listened to his name fall from her lips and while he might normally hold out in order to make sure she had another orgasm, he figured he'd be asking to do this again anyway so he'd have another opportunity to watch her unravel. Actually, he was thinking he'd like to have all the opportunities to watch her unravel. He let himself go, "Penelope! Fuck!" His thrusts died out and his head hung as he tried to catch his breath. Falling to her side, he immediately grabbed her by the waist to pull her closer to him, "Why did we not do this last time?"

Her mouth was dry, so she licked her lips hoping that would help. Penelope pushed the hair out of her eyes then cleared her throat, "The better question is, why did we do it this time?"

"Was I supposed to be thinking this through? I was a little distracted." They settled into each other's grooves, her leg over his, his arm behind her, his hand clasping hers. "But seriously, do you want to talk about this?" The question was punctuated by his lips on the back of her hand.

Her smile widened then she bit her lip to contain it, "I want to play it cool and say no but that would be an omission, if not a lie." She settled her face closer to his, "We work together, but do we want to do more than that?"

"I'd say we already had." Luke laughed when she used her hand inside his to tap his chest. "Yes, don't we? My plan was never to do this once just to know what it felt like. That sounds like a terrible plan."

"Yes, but do you mean sex or do you mean-"

"We can't possibly be dense enough to think that a sex only arrangement would end well."

"But we should hope that a," she winced because she was aware many men run the other direction when these conversations were too serious too early, "relationship will?"

Luke shrugged, "We can't know unless we try. But, what's the alternative? Walk away? Now? C'mon."

"It's easier to sweep once under the rug than many many times. And dates. And-"

"I understand. But, is that what you want? To forget this and never do it again?"

"No, it's not. But, is that what you want? To only do this with me, possibly never again with-"

"Anyone else? That's the hope, right? That things work out? Is that okay?"

"Uh, yeah. Yeah, yup." She cleared her throat and nodded. "Just so you know this is a very odd conversation."

Luke laughed, "Shut up, Penelope." He leaned down to kiss her. "Let's do more dirty things to each other."

"Fine by me. So I guess Em was right." She leaned in to kiss his chest so she could avoid eye contact so she wouldn't burst out laughing.

Luke held her away by her arms, "What's that now?"

"She told me if I left with her last time you'd probably lose your mind and we'd be forced to sort this thing out."

Luke scoffed and rolled his eyes, "Damn that ride home." Penelope reached down to stroke him. He took a deep breath and his eyes automatically became heavy with lust, "But _damn_ that ride home."

* * *

I will be updating Summer and Movies soon. As of right now, unless CM turns around, those will probably be the last of my Garvez. Im. not saying that for sure but I can say I have no motivation for new Garvez right now. Also, I very much encourage angry tweeting the writers, I do it and it's fun.

Thanks to Silkia and Thomas for reading this.


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